Mass Effect 2: Suicidal Odds
by Tatanka4Life
Summary: After losing eight of his friends to the Blue Suns and then his girlfriend two years later to the Blue Suns once again Ty and his family have finally cornered the remaining members who caused it all, but Cerberus has need of someone of his skills to help Commander Shepard in her fight against the Collectors. Suicidal Odds aren't concerning to someone who was forged to survive.
1. Prologue

Mass Effect 2

Suicidal Odds

Prologue

**A/N: This is a warning to those who can't take reading torture scenes; it is mostly to set up for this story and the sequel. It isn't overly violent in my opinion just a lot of profanity and being electrocuted but if that isn't your thing you can skip to the fifth to last paragraph and from there it is no longer torture, there will be a short summary at the end in another A/N to let those who skipped know exactly what happened.**

"Your origins don't matter, who you are as an individual does."

Ty

Exhaustion and fatigue had a few stages though Ty wasn't sure how many or what stage he was in, all he knew was that he wanted nothing more than to fall on the nice cold floor and sleep. His eyes began to shut as he thought about sleep and how great it would be if his body would allow him just a few minutes of rest since he couldn't even remember what year he was in anymore.

He just wanted to sleep at least for a few minutes, as his eyes began to glaze over and sleep became in reach he felt electricity jolt through his body, "AHHHH! AH! AH! Rarragh! Alliance PRICKS! Every last one of you has a stick up your ass!" Ty screamed out into the air. Ty tried to catch his breath and then the electricity surged through him again, he screamed out again as his hands and legs tried to fight against the restraints, "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUCCCKKKKKK! AHHH! Fuck you all you military shi-AHHHHHHH!"

Screaming was about the only thing that allowed him to express how he really felt to be jailed and tortured at the hands of the Alliance, 2186 that was the year he remembered and he was having his time wasted by the Alliance while the Reapers were on the horizon, literally. "You think this will break me, it won't assholes I'M UNBREAKABLE HAHAHA! Oh that last one was good but you missed the itch I have on one my pecks so would you mind." Electricity jolted through him again as he screamed but then it stopped "NO! THE OTHER ONE! THE OTHER ONE!"

The room was dark save for the light that was shining on Ty and it was cold due to the lack of a shirt. Ty couldn't see much except the Alliance soldier who was controlling the electricity, some guy behind a helmet who was getting rather irritated at Ty for not talking except to yell at them and to scream. He had done very well in talking he thought, he managed to piss off every single person that was trying to get out the information he had so by his standards he was doing great.

As the electricity finished attacking his nerves and body Ty's breath left him again and he panted hard, his will was far from broken but damn did he wish he would at least get to sleep at some point, it had been days it seemed since the last time he slept. Ty's head fell forward and he got a good look at the once open wound he had on his stomach that was now sealed since the Alliance had given him some medical care before the torturing. Ty chuckled softly to himself since all they did was patch him to torture him and then they were going to have to give him more medical care afterwards, they should have just taken his offer and they all would have been spared from this waste of time.

Ty's thoughts drifted back to his wound and how he got it, that Cerberus asshole with the sword was going to pay for the injury and then Ty was going to march to Omega and take it back for what that other Cerberus asshole did. It may have been a shit hole but it was Arias shit hole that he lived and worked on occasionally.

As Ty's panting died out he found his voice and forced it up, "You know what I want and you should also know you have about a day before the Reapers get here so you should just do us all a favor and let me see her." Ty said. He was surprised at how hoarse his voice had become, how long had even been screaming for, hours? Days? He wasn't sure anymore his body was just so zapped of energy.

"You've already seen her." A voice called out from behind what he assumed was a glass window since it was over an intercom. Ty chuckled, yeah he had seen her, he waltzed right into Vancouver through security and almost got to her door when security finally caught on and found the unconscious soldier he stole the uniform off of. "Master of infiltration or just lucky?" he heard her voice ask.

Ty wasn't so sure if he was going to ever be able to be either anymore at this rate, Ty continued looking down as he said "She is the only one I'll speak to and I am surprised by this all Anderson, torture? I didn't think it was your style I always thought you were nicer than this; she spoke really highly of you so I guess I had higher expectations.

Ty licked his lips and tried swallowing for the sake of his dry throat but it didn't help too much, Ty shook his head as he continued "I'm also surprised by the fact you think you can hide behind that intercom and think I don't know it's you. The way you speak is a clear give away, very commanding, I bet these lackeys really like you yelling at them but I gotta ask…when did you become so mean, hahahah-AHHHH!"

That last jab must have really agitated him judging on the fact it felt like there was more voltage in the shock, or maybe it was delirium catching up with him or maybe he was just fading to the spirit realm to meet all the friends that had died under his command nine years ago to raise a toast to his sarcasm and assholism finally getting him killed. "Get out of my way right now! I will not sit here and allow you to torture him anymore because of political bullshit, you are all better than this. The Reapers are almost here and he is willing to talk to me so get out of my way."

Ty knew that voice and it made him look up momentarily before the energy it took to look up became too much and his head fell down. There was the sound of hydraulic doors sliding open and then the sound of feet slightly jogging to him, each step kept his mind from fading to sleep, the hope of seeing her again to warn her of the impending attack kept him more or less awake.

"Get away from that button right now or it's you who will be electrocuted next." That voice brought a smile to Ty's face, she was here, finally. A blurry figure came into sight in front of Ty but he once again just wanted to pass out, Ty felt a hand under his chin that lifted his head up so he could see the piercing sapphire eyes that belonged to the voice, "Shepard." Ty said weakly. Shepard gave him a quick but friendly hug, the embrace gave him some warmth as he rested his head on her shoulder until she let go and put her hand under his chin to hold his head up.

"I'm so sorry Ty I tried to stop this all and convince them you wouldn't break bu-" Ty shook his head with what little energy and range of motion he had stopping her from speaking, "Don't worry about Shepard I know you did your best, besides I've had worse treatment…can't think of any right now since this is so fresh but I'll come up with one later. Straight to business I assume?" "The sooner you tell me the sooner you'll be in the medical center again." Shepard said in an assuring tone.

Ty gave a short nod due to her hand holding up his face, he missed the squad and working with Shepard. So many good times, some not so good but the good ones stood out more, he just wanted to sleep so badly despite needing to tell Shepard the information he had, Ty felt his eyes shutting again and voices becoming more distant, "…ay with me Ty …Anderson he nee…ical atten…come on Ty don…" Ty felt his mouth move as his hoarse voice came out, "Reapers…Batarians…Omega taken…Cerberus." Exhaustion finally caught up with Ty as he felt himself slip into a deep sleep and the memories of old filled his mind.

**A/N: Alright first off I'm new to this site and this is my first fan fiction so go easy on me as I learn how to work this all. I have been working on Suicidal Odds for a while now but just never wanted to post it because I didn't think it was that great but after a lot of convincing from friends and family who read it I decided to put this up. Reviews, comments, want to tell me how great it is, want to tell me what I'm doing wrong go right ahead, constructive criticism is fine and welcomed as long as it is helpful otherwise if it is just being ride I'll just ignore ignorant comments since I plan on posting the whole story no matter what and then the sequel so if you don't like it, don't read it. To those who didn't read the prologue all you missed out on was that Ty was being interrogated by the Alliance and Anderson through electrocution because he was withholding information on the Reapers and Cerberus because he wanted to tell Shepard herself since they had a history and other reasons you will find out as this story progresses. He screamed a lot of profanities and got under the skin of all the people until Shepard, who was being forced to stay silent due to be being grounded and stripped of rank or whatever the correct term is to describe her predicament in the third game, finally had enough and came barging in. The prologue doesn't hold a bunch of info like what they look like, Shepard's past information and such but that will be let known in due time. I needed this as a set up a chapter and will be getting the first real chapter out soon. I hope you enjoy the story, I know I have had a lot of fun writing it ****.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hunted

**A/N: Forgot to mention in the last chapter that the prologue is the only flash forward there is into the third game/sequel to this. Also another thing I forgot is that everything Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and EA or just Bioware not really sure who actually owns it all but I believe it is one or both of them, I am just a huge fan and love the series enough to write my own little adventure in their world. All I can stake any claim in is the personalities of Ty, his family, and his friends who are not actually part of Biowares world, I made them up. Anyway next chapter.**

"Shepard what exactly happened that day?" Ty asked out loud while looking through data servers. Ty was scanning quickly through since he wasn't supposed to even be on the facility he invaded and the cameras were only going to circle the clip he had for two more minutes. It had been months that he had been sneaking around in the shadows under his tactical cloak figuring out all he could on Shepard. He went through a lot of data logs on a project called Lazarus and what Shepard had been going through for treatments but it wasn't what he was searching for.

He needed to hurry up time was running out, "Come on where's the data I'm looking for?" Ty asked through his gritted teeth. A-ha, Ty thought finding some good info on Shepard's incident, time to download this shit, Ty continued starting his downloading. As Ty started downloading a screen popped up that read, enter correct passkey, he put in the cardkey he stole off one of the officers when he first got on the facility. The cardkey worked on everything in the facility, computers, doors, anything on the facility was tangible with the key Ty had stolen…except this time. "Alert we have a breach in sector five." A voice came over the intercom, the alarm was buzzing and Ty knew he was stone cold busted. Ty sighed aloud; this was what had become of his luck lately, "Fuck me, this key worked on everything else why couldn't things just be easier on me this once." Ty said.

Suddenly the hydraulic door opened but Ty was quicker as he hit his cloak, he crouched down and started lightly walking at a fast pace in-between desks. As he peeked over a desk he saw a woman and man with guns drawn looking around, the woman wore a white and black spandex and she had raven black hair, the man was black and wore mostly black skin tight armor from head to toe. Just keep moving don't stop, Ty thought as he moved from desk to another inching towards the door. The door was feet away, one foot after and another brought it closer and closer, as he reached it he stopped dead in his tracks when as a sudden shock in his back that soon jolted across his body immobilized him.

His thoughts were jumbled due to the amount of pain that was going through every fiber of his being. The pain brought him to his knees and disabled his cloak, Ty fought as hard as he could to stand up but despite his will trying to push him back up his body wouldn't respond to his commands. Heels clicked behind as he heard an Australian accent "Thermal vision is great when you're looking for someone you can't see, and these stun guns are good at stopping them in their tracks." The spandex wearing woman walked in front of Ty with her stun gun and said "Now we have you to deal with."

Ty looked up at her with a smirk despite himself and said "Only took you two months." The look on the woman's face was quite priceless, eyes nearly bulging out, mouth agape all the tell tale signs that he was going to pay. She looked up from him to the guy behind him and said coldly "Bring him to the interrogation room." Before Ty could register what she said something slammed into the back of his head and blackness followed.

The feeling of his feet dragging across the ground brought Ty back into consciousness; Ty shook his head trying to free himself of the cobwebs when he took notice of his predicament. The original guy he had seen with the spandex woman was on his left side with his arm in a vice grip while some bald guy was on his right side doing the same thing as they dragged him. The spandex woman was in front of them walking at a faster pace and had a pistol on her this time. Ty tried to get his body working but nothing was responding to his commands except his arms which began to move, "Let me go you bitch." Ty spat angrily.

He was met with no answer, not that he expected a "Oh sure your free to go." They dragged him into a nearby room and when they got inside they tossed him rather unceremoniously onto the floor, "Wilson wait outside." The Aussie said. The doors closed as Ty began to get feeling in his legs, he got onto his knees when the Aussie spoke up again "Do you really expect me to just let you go after I found you stealing data from us and learning you've been doing it for months now." Ty managed to get on shaky legs as a biotic throw hit his back and knocked him back down. As he managed to get back on a knee he felt biotics grab his body and lift him up, he was turned around to face the two as the black man stared at him intently, "I've dealt with murderers and psychopaths, your stare doesn't intimidate me." Ty spouted off.

The black man was holding him up and essentially was holding Ty's life in his hands but Ty had a problem with keeping his mouth shut, and if he was indeed about to meet death he was going to go out pissing off Cerberus. "What was it you were looking in our servers for?" The black man asked. Ty nodded as much as he could in the direction of the Aussie and responded "Her private pictures, I was trying to get a show but apparently she hides them well." Ty smirked at the angered look he received; she was special to him in some way or she was at one time, that much was obvious.

The man smashed Ty into the wall three times and then brought his hand downwards bringing Ty into the ground face and chest first. The cracking sound might have been a couple ribs breaking but Ty wasn't sure due to his mouth bleeding from him biting his tongue. His tongue was throbbing now but it was sure as hell a lot better than a broken nose.

The biotics lifted Ty back up into their view, "You've got a lot of nerve boy, what were you looking for in our servers?" The man asked. Ty spat blood to the ground as best he could due to the biotic grip that had suddenly gotten tighter around his body, Ty stared at them for a few seconds in silence until he said "You two are supposed to be smart figure it out, a certain woman's ship gets randomly attacked and you come in and try and save her life with your weird shit, connect the pieces together." "You're after Shepard." The woman seemed shocked but her icy mentality came back as she asked in a commanding tone "Why?" "There you go and that's my own business, unless you give me a little somethin somethin my lips are sealed." Ty said with a bloody smile but knew he wouldn't touch her with a hundred foot pole, she was Cerberus and that there made her unwanted by Ty.

The man was angered even more by the comment not that it was surprising but he started using his biotic power to squeeze the life out of Ty. The pressure on his body was becoming unbearable and it was starting to edge itself onto the shittiest ways to die list Ty had going. More blood started pouring into Ty's mouth and he was sure he was going to explode but then the woman put a hand on the mans shoulder and said "Jacob stop and let him go."

The pressure stopped and for that Ty was thankful but what he wasn't thankful for was that he was still afloat, "We can't just let him go Miranda he's seen our data, he could be working for the Alliance or worse." Jacob said. "You really think he's working for the Alliance, look at him the worst he could be working for is some slave trader." Miranda said. That actually stung a little, slave traders were about as scummy as it came and she just compared me to one, Ty thought, what a bitch that actually hurts a little. Jacob sighed and asked "Are you sure, what if your wrong?" "I'm never wrong; I think you should have learned that by now, now let him go." Miranda said.

Ty fell to the ground hard and started coughing up blood profusely; the guy was obviously very literal when she asked him to do something like dropping a prisoner. Jacob left the room and left Ty with Miranda, Ty finished couching up blood and was getting to his knee when Miranda walked in front of him and asked "Do you work for anyone or are you just snooping around." Ty wiped his mouth off on his right arm then looked at her and said "Do you seriously think that I work for someone, I mean look at me who the hell is going to work under me or let me work for them. Besides the whole entire Alliance gave up on her why would they care?" "Good, what exactly were you looking for on those servers?" The woman named Miranda asked.

Blood had a very distinctive taste to it and Ty was sure it wouldn't be leaving him for a while as he spat more onto the ground, Ty shook his head and said "The real reason for why you guys took Shepard in and if you had any data on her squad." She seemed to examine him for a few moments like she knew him though Ty was sure she did whether she knew it herself or not, happened with being a most wanted fugitive, everyone seemed to think they knew you. "What's your name?" Miranda finally asked. "Why the fuck do you care?" Ty asked in return with an agitated tone. "Our readings wouldn't tell me who you are and you seem familiar but mostly so I can contact you in the future for a job." Miranda said.

Guess those upgrades to keep my identity hidden were worth it, Ty thought but said "I'll never work for Cerberus willingly, but if you really want to know use the info that you have on me. Good luck with finding me though 'cause I'm a master of disappearing." Ty had his left hand hidden from view as he worked on getting his cloak functional without the Cerberus Operative knowing, as he finished his statement he hit his cloak and bolted out of the room to the shuttle bay and got on his space bike he had cloaked and got out of the facility. He hoped it would be his last time on a Cerberus ship but the spirits had their own plans and though Ty didn't believe he had a destiny or that some spirit was controlling his fate he figured that if the spirits were indeed toying with his fate they would have a good laugh at his expense if he did end up on another Cerberus ship, and Ty was pretty damn positive he would miss the humor of the joke.

A Week Later at another Cerberus Facility

"Shepard before you attend to the Freedoms Progress colony I'd like for you to find someone who may be valuable in helping you understand what happened there." The Illusive man said. Shepard leaned her weight onto her right leg as she crossed her arms, she didn't like the fact she had to work with Cerberus people for one mission but if the colonist were in trouble then they were her top priority, not a recruitment drive for Cerberus, "Isn't it a little more important to find out what happened to those colonists." Shepard said with a little edge to her voice. "Yes the colony is important but this man has connection to the colony and he might have abilities that let him see past events." The Illusive man said. He took a drag of his cigarette then continued "And that could be the turning point to finding out what happened to this colony."

Shepard couldn't help but smirk, it wasn't a happy smirk it was a smirk she held for people like the Illusive Man, it had always showed them that she thought they were idiots, "You really expect me to believe there's an alien that can see past events now, I may have just been woke up but last time I checked that's impossible. Besides aliens don't work for Cerberus." Shepard said.

The Illusive man smirked at Shepard's response like there was some big joke she didn't get in there, the smirk made her blood run cold, "Who said alien this man is very much human, no one knows how but he can do it and that's just the tip of the iceberg I hear." The Illusive man said. If this person actually could see past events maybe she'd find out what happened to the colonists, Cerberus or not they needed her help "Alright I'll look for him." Shepard said. "I'll have Miranda debrief you on your way to the Citadel some of my agents say he has a contact there and if he isn't there then you can go to Freedoms Progress, good luck Shepard." The Illusive man said.

* * *

Ty flew and hit a mass relay and went to the Citadel, he had been hiding off the grid from Cerberus for the whole week making sure they couldn't find him. It wasn't too hard since disappearing into thin air was a simple task for him; years of practice had a way of making him an expert. Tyler Rhoddy wasn't a big guy he was only 5'10 and weighed about 175 pounds but all of it was muscle. He was very well toned each muscle finely defined from his back and shoulders to his finely toned arms, chest, abs and leg muscles. He was slightly tanned which was his natural complexion though he hadn't spent enough time around any sun to have gained it and had never loss the complexion though he was very much Caucasian.

He had no facial hair but had long dark brown hair that went to the middle of his back but he had the crown of his hair ponytailed back when he was out and about so it wouldn't get in the way. He had full eyebrows and round eyes, his irises were purple and seemed to glow brighter when he had the hood of his tank top up. The color was because of a rare condition he had though he had no name for the condition except purple eye syndrome, obviously not what it was really called. He had high cheek bones and a normal sized nose, along with his big smile and dimples that his smile caused, he had a slim jaw and perfect teeth.

Aside from his natural features he had two piercings and a plentiful amount of tattoos but not to the extent of what he considered ridiculous though others often debated his point. Each tattoo had a meaning though not a lot of people knew what those meanings were. He had his ears pierced at the bottom with medium sized sapphire gems held by white gold studs. Blue was his favorite color and he found that the real sapphire would suit that. If you started from the top of his tattoos you'd be starting with his tattoo of a buffalo skull with two feathers hanging from its horns on his chest with the word Tatanka above it, the word Tatanka meant buffalo, bull or bison in several Native American tribes and was one of his nicknames growing up for being a bull in a china shop or for being stubborn like a bull.

From there he a long sleeve of Japanese tattoos down his right arm which all held some meaning to him, on his back he had a cross that covered his back with 8 names in it, the names were of his fallen friends that he had spent everyday of the last eight years wishing he had gone down with them in a fight of some sort instead of being robbed of them through a betrayal he should have seen coming.

His left arm had Polynesian designs down to his elbow than broke off to the top of his forearm; on the back of his forearm on the same side as his palm was a tattoo that read RBZ 4 Life, or Rhoddy Boyz for life to represent his close bond with his brother. Ty wore a black muscle tank top that had a hood along with black clam diggers and black construction boots. He didn't really fit in with all the people and aliens who all wore their nice outfits that were actually in fashion but despite how he stood out like a sore thumb he knew how to blend in and knew how to disappear.

His hood was not just an accessory to the outfit, when on the job he used it to hide his hair and the majority of his face and when in a place with no oxygen or non-breathable air he had a mask that would fold itself out from his hood and away inside his hood when he wasn't using it but when it was out it fully covered his eyes, mouth and nose. The bottom part of the mask that covered his mouth and nose looked like a retro ninja mask just made of a hard substance not cloth but it was still all black. When he was on his bike travelling or a place that he had to protect his eyes the top part of his mask would activate and was in the shape of black rimmed and crimson red lens punk shades.

His space bike looked like a Tron bike from the 21st century movie and it glowed dark blue, it wasn't a space ship and didn't look like it was capable for hitting mass relays but Ty had built it to be able to travel light years and hit mass relays without destruction to the bike or him by using his bikes shielding device to protect his body from the outside elements. He was very smart contrary to popular belief but when it came to fights he was deadly smart. He was a supreme sniper better than anyone he had ever met but those he met couldn't testify to that since they were dead, he could knock someone's head off in close range or long range with his sniper due to his ability to dual wield it with a pistol and still be able to aim down his sights.

The original sniper Ty had bought was a Viper but to call it that now was a disservice. He had customized it extensively from the scope to the paint, there were no stores that sold a copy and every store owner wanted licensing rights to create more of it. The paint was an iridescent black with blue and had an engraving on the side that was silver that read RBZ 4 Life, the scope could see just about anything and in severe distances it would show Ty where his bullet would land. The gun itself was very lightweight but could pack a hell of a punch when it shot or was used as a bat which Ty did sometimes to often for his own liking, he could also overcharge a bullet to have a bigger impact but at the cost of his heat sink having to vent out for several seconds.

He also had two tomahawks that were made of the hardest metal that he could find and had designed carvings across the blade but they were also light and perfectly balanced. The blades were carved like a large upper case T and curved at the points with it being sharp on every side making them very dangerous. He was well trained in close quarters combat with them and an expert at throwing them from any distance.

Using tomahawks was Ty's way of remembering his grandfather who was a master knife thrower and most famous, or infamous depending on your perspective, contract killer in the entire galaxy. His grandfather was killed by the Alliance when a false contract from some guy who was part of Cerberus sent his grandfather to kill the Turian general who was on his way to the Citadel.

It was a trap to kill his grandfather and the general but it didn't work since the Alliance somehow got word of it, the Alliance gunned down his grandfather and saved the general but that left Ty's dad on the run for being associated with his own dad. Ty and his brother are also to be hunted down until they are brought to justice, being most wanted doesn't bother either of them but they both have a burning hatred for both the Alliance and Cerberus.

Ty landed at his docking hanger on the Citadel and started to walk to the Dark Star bar to talk to his favorite bartender, he was a Turian with a sense of humor Ty enjoyed to listen to after a day of work and an old friend. Ty had a few floors to clear so as he went through the Citadel he let his thoughts travel remembering what the history books had said about what human life was like before they found Prothean technology, they were like cavemen compared to what all these other races had, he bumped into a Krogan that was talking about fish and apologized as he kept moving. Not a good thing to do me, they have a temper to match mine most of the time, Ty thought as he kept walking.

Ty got up all the stairs and finally to the bar after the long two months he enjoyed being able to sit down at the counter and relax. The bartender noticed him and as he walked to Ty he said "Ah if it isn't my favorite thief, what's it been two months since I saw you last?" The Turian asked. "Sounds about right, how's my favorite Turian bartender been doing?" Ty asked. It was their usual greeting ever since they met but long ago when they were working together their titles were different.

The Turian began cleaning out a cup as he motioned with his head to the jammed pack dance floor, "Business has been up beat since that whole thing with that Commander Shepard saving this place happened two years ago, how you been Ty you find what you were looking for?" The Turian asked. "No I got busted Darian stone cold busted." Ty said. Darian was an old friend of Ty's and he had similar facial markings to Garrus but he had a darker skin tone than Garrus but not as dark as Nihlus and the markings he had were black, Darian's mandibles helped with his surprised look as he asked "How'd that happen? I know you're one of the most careful guys out there, you never do something without checking it out then re-checking to make sure it's safe?"

That was a habit he had picked up after realizing there wasn't something as too much planning, Ty shook his head to himself as he said "I know, I stole a key to all their systems and it worked for everything, except the thing I needed. They caught me and interrogated me with biotic power but they didn't get much since I pulled a disappearing act." Not exactly true but he wasn't going to worry his old friend with his own problems, Darian laughed gave a low laugh as he put the glass down on the counter "It sounds like the time when a group of Krogans were going to beat your ass for being a smart ass." Darian said.

Ty laughed at the comment, yeah he never claimed to be able to keep his mouth shut, Ty was still chuckling as he said "You still remember that, it wasn't my fault they had their quads in a twist. I tried to be funny but they took it way to serious." "We had some good times back then, still do now but there seems to be less gunfire on my end." Darian said with a toothy grin. Ty shook his head and gave him the finger as he chuckled more, "So there was another pretty girl here asking about you." Darian said smile still not fading.

That raised Ty's eyebrow, Darian had become his contractor on the Citadel as of late with people coming to him to get to Ty, or at least those who knew who Darian had been and his relation to Ty. Ty leaned forward onto his forearms and asked "Really, who is this girl that you speak of?" Darian gave an unhelpful shrug and said sarcastically "A secret admirer. I don't know she didn't give me her name she said that she was a friend of yours and she wanted you to call her. She was very pretty for a human though I have never seen her around or with you and I've met most of the women you know. She had a certain fire in her eyes that I'd have noticed before if I had seen her, pretty woman."

Darian gave Ty a small sliver of paper and Ty looked at it thinking, who the hell still uses paper isn't everything holograms and projections. Ty looked at the number and didn't recognize it, "So any idea who it's from?" Darian asked.

Ty shook his head, that contact information was about as unknown as the Turians before the first contact war but if someone needed his help than he was going to help. "No not even remotely. Did she say anything else that could help me?" Ty asked. Darian shook his head and said "No nothing. I guess she figured you would notice it orrrr…hmm hold on." Darian looked around Ty than asked "You weren't followed were you?" Darian asked. "I shouldn't have been I've been off the grid for a week, why?" Ty asked. "There's some armored looking assholes looking around the booths with Cerberus insignias. They're moving over here, you better get going." Darian said.

Credit where credit was due Cerberus wasn't as incompetent as Ty had believed; they were able to track him to Darian that brought them from incompetent assholes to mildly incompetent pricks. "I guess they would know about our past, nothing is ever easy anymore is it? I'll leave when they get here; oh here are some credits ahead of time just in case I wreck anything." Ty said scanning his credits into the machine though it wasn't the real reason he scanned them in.

Ty put his hood up and got his cloak ready, the officers tapped him on the shoulder and asked "You sir were you the one who attacked our facility a week ago?" "Attacked? What are you talking about? I've been here at the Citadel this whole time talking to the guy who bartends here about stuff going on in the galaxy." Ty said without turning. "I already told you I'm a bartender I serve drinks, if you want news go ask someone else…I don't understand why humans always ask me that." Darian said right on cue. Ty had to stop himself from laughing but then he heard them play a recording of his voice on the Cerberus ship and compare it to what he had just said, oh shit this isn't going to be good, Ty thought. "This is the one get him onto our ship." The leader said.

Ty activated his cloak and disappeared as they went to grab him, he spun quickly and hyper extended one of the officer's knees with a kick and then landed a huge uppercut to the other making them fall to the floor. Ty uncloaked quickly and said "Sorry boys tell your boss to fuck off." Ty activated his cloak again and ran away from the bar to what he believed was a safe distance where he thought he could take his cloak off.

As he deactivated his cloak Ty began walking normally and entered the number into his omni-tool to give it a call. As Ty activated the call he stopped at an advertisement to blend in while he waited for someone to pick up. "Hello." A woman's voice came through.

She sounded younger or at least younger than him but he wasn't entirely surprised since most that came for help were either in their young twenties like him or were teenagers who got caught up with the wrong gang and needed help disappearing or making the gang disappear. Ty began walking again as he said "Hey the bartender at the Citadel gave me your number; he said I know you but I'm pretty sure this is our first conversation." The woman sighed a little and said "You're right we haven't met but you've helped someone I know and they told me a little about you." "Alright so what do you want from me?" Ty asked. "I wanted to meet you in person and maybe get to know you." The woman said.

That smelt like bullshit, all of Ty's bullshit meters were ringing off the hook but she seemed scared, not of getting caught in a lie but of something else. She did need help but Ty knew she wouldn't talk until they were face to face, despite knowing that he asked "Is that it?" "That's it." The woman answered. She had an unsteady tone, desperate even, she needed his help and she needed it bad it seemed, "Alright where do you wanna meet?" Ty asked. "Omega in the bottom part of the Afterlife club." The woman said. Great that is soooo not where I wanted to go, Ty thought, but yet still impressive for someone who, if I am judging correctly, doesn't belong there. "Omega, you're a dangerous girl." Ty said as a smirk found its way to his face due to his own thought. "I've heard you're a dangerous guy, I've heard you can travel fast so meet me there today alright?"

She had a lot of information on him and all he knew was she needed help, not a great start to a business relationship but definitely not his worst. Ty looked behind him and saw the Cerberus officers coming up behind him, man these guys don't quit, Ty thought. There was a crowd of people and he started to walk through all of the aliens and humans as quickly as possible but without bumping into any of them. "Yea I'll see you then." Ty said then hung up. "Hey you stop!" The leader yelled then fired a warning shot, everyone ducked except Ty who was now running for his life not understanding why they wanted him so bad.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Contract

**A/N: Greetings to all, as usual I do not own anything Mass Effect that belongs to Bioware and/or E/A, I'm just a nerdy fan. All I stake claim in is the personalities of Ty and his friends and family that are not apart of the actual Mass Effect universe. Any who I think this and the next chapter is the last of the setting up chapters where he isn't apart of the squad and once that happens things pick up. Thanks to the 18 viewers so far I didn't think I'd even get that much so thank you, also don't be afraid to comment, constructive criticism and praise is welcomed and appreciated. Now onto the next entry to Suicidal Odds, enjoy ****.**

Crowds of people, human and alien alike were as much of cover as they were in the way as Ty ran bumping into them and trying to dodge through with the Cerberus officers hot on his tale and C-Sec starting to mobilize. Ty's eyes scanned the areas looking for anywhere to give the officers a slip but found none as he saw red and blue lights on his side and a few Turians wearing C-Sec armor getting their guns ready. Maybe C-Sec would get them off his tail or maybe they would chase him he wasn't sure all he knew was to keep his legs moving.

As Ty turned a corner he almost ran into a crate that was in his immediate way making him have to vault over it using his left hand to push his momentum up to jump it, as he got air he swung his legs over the crate and used his right hand to push him forward back onto his feet into a full sprint without losing his speed. Free running was a skill he had decided to learn as a teenager to make problems like this less complicated. As Ty looked back after getting more than a few steps away from the crate he saw one Cerberus officer take the crate to the gut while the other dodged to the side and stayed on his tail.

As Ty looked back forward he slammed into another human which knocked Ty to the ground and made him roll to a stop at the Avina terminal near where Captain Bailey was. "Hey watch it." The woman said. Ty glanced up to respond but his words stopped before forming as he saw a woman who looked like Commander Shepard. Before Ty could comment he saw that the other Cerberus officer was only a few yards away, "God damn them." Ty muttered as he scrambled to his feet and jumped over the guard rail. "Hey wait a minute!" The woman yelled.

Ty landed on the ground and used his momentum to roll and continue up into a run, _there was no way it was Shepard no matter how similar they looked, it was just someone of close resemblance since Shepard wasn't due for another month or so,_ Ty thought as he ran, _and if it_ _was she probably wanted to arrest me, that's Alliance for you._

Ty got to the docking station and hopped on his space bike, as it powered up he saw a Cerberus officer with C-Sec on his tail come around the corner, Ty gave the Cerberus officer the finger and took off. His full mask came out from his hoodie and Ty started flying fast and hard to the mass relay before C-Sec would catch wind it was him, "Plot destination please Mr. Rhoddy." Ty's VI said. "Omega." Ty said. "Destination chosen prepare for a mass jump." Ty closed in on the relay and set his bikes navigation to "relay hopping" as he put it before he hit the relay.

Relay hopping was something he had experimented on when he started making his space bike, because of how small it was he was able to navigate it to land exactly where he would need to enter the next relay at which would send him to the next and next until he finally reached his destination within minutes. As he accelerated he prepared himself for the relay hop since it had a way of making him a bit light headed, he shot forward through the relay allowing him to jump all the way to Omega Nebula, as he came out of the jump his VI said "Jump successful." "Thanks." Ty said. "You're welcome." The VI responded. Ty flew to the forsaken rock known as Omega not entirely excited to be back since last he heard the mercenary groups were all causing a ruckus which meant Suns would be everywhere.

After guiding his bike into his docking area he shut his bike down and got off, his mask retracted itself and he started walking down the hall where he was met by one of Arias Batarian guards, "You got a lot of balls coming back here Ty, the last time you were here you and the Blue Suns shot this place up." The Batarian named Moklan said.

That made Ty furrow his brow, he had spent his time defending Omega not destroying it, which the Suns took pleasure in doing while they were hunting for him. "Actually it was the Blue Suns, every shot I fired hit them and I didn't kill civilians like them so take up that bullshit with Tarak or the other assholes." Ty said not holding back his disgust for them. Moklan smirked a little, a smirk Ty had become all to familiar with that meant things were either about to heat up or he was going to try and get under his skin, "He still wants you dead you know and it's a pretty hefty reward." Moklan said.

Yeah Ty had heard about that from all the bounty hunters who tried to cash him in, he was pretty sure it was higher now than it was after the twelfth bounty hunter had failed six months back but if Moklan wanted a fight Ty was going to give him one, "Listen if Aria wants to talk to me then I'll go see her if not leave me alone I'm not here for trouble and if you decide to cause some with me." Ty pulled out one of his tomahawks out quickly and continued "I'll put you down faster than you can say 'humans are a blight to Galactic purity' understand."

Moklan smiled, he was just getting under Ty's skin to see him get riled up, Ty didn't dislike Moklan; he just distrusted him after the incident years back when he left Ty and Grizz to fight off thirty mercenaries because he was going to "flank" them. By the time he did Ty and Grizz were executing the remaining mercenaries. "Aria wants to speak with you then you can do whatever you want, cause trouble and we'll put you down." Moklan said calmly.

Ty nodded and followed Moklan to the club; he had learned long ago not to keep Aria waiting if he didn't want to be dragged there. They passed the line of people and he heard a human start complaining about getting in because Aria apparently was "expecting" him. Ty rolled his eyes and kept walking with the Batarian, most people had tried that but there weren't many people who Aria was expecting and most she was expecting were either hit contracts or people like Ty.

They got through the doors and continued walking down the last hall until the last set of doors opened and the music sound waves started hitting Ty, _Afterlife, great_, Ty thought. Moklan stopped and looked at Ty as he pointed to the bar area "You may want to take the long way around; the Blue Suns are recruiting over there." Moklan said. That meant seeing Anto but Anto wouldn't kill him, the Blue Suns would try. "Thanks for the info." Ty said with a nod.

Ty walked the long way to the stairs up to Aria but as he got there he passed Anto who just glared at him, all four eyes boring into his two, Ty had earned it but he also didn't like Anto as much as Aria did so he didn't care to much, "Hey Anto no hard feelings right?" Ty asked with a smirk. Anto gritted his teeth as he said "Fuck you Ty go talk to Aria." "Hey it wasn't my fault, she came onto me…Besides last time I checked Batarian and human couples don't work." Ty joked as he walked up the stairs. Ty got in front of Aria who was sitting down reading a data pad and asked "So Aria how you been?"

"Ty it's been a long time." Aria stated as she finished with her data pad and handed it to one of her guards; she was now giving Ty her full attention as she asked "Do you plan on making Omega a warzone again?" It wasn't his fault that Ortega district got blown to hell, yeah the Suns were hunting him in particular but they blew it up with a damn gunship, he just shot it down and protected civilians. "Isn't it already? By what I hear some merc groups are tearing this place up?" Ty asked. Aria motioned him to sit down and he sat adjacent to her, "They're tearing it up because of Archangel, now what is your business this time on Omega?" Aria asked. "I got a call from someone to meet them here so here I am, I don't know what she wants or who she is but she apparently knows me." Ty said.

Arias smirk was a knowing smirk though Ty wasn't sure if it was because of their history or because she knew who he was talking about, "You always have had your way with attracting women; I did notice a new human had showed up she's downstairs. You may like her I heard she's cute." Aria said. "They gotta have a personality to not just looks you should know that, anything else you wanted to know Aria I don't plan on staying long or being back here for a while." Ty said. "Look after yourself Ty." Aria said. "I usually do." Ty said as he stood up. "Oh and remember you're always welcome here and if you ever looking for company…well lets just say I'm always available for you." Aria said with a hungry smile.

Ty stopped himself as a smile worked his way to his lips, "Is that your way of asking to meld with me again?" Ty asked with his smile as he looked at her. Aria gave him a look he knew to well, she wanted more than what she would say, she had a smirk as she said "Maybe, think about it when you have time the offer is always there." Ty smirked and said "I'll keep it in mind besides I'm sure you'll find some way to get me to owe you one." Aria nodded and said matter of factly "At least you know, just remember that I'm always watching you." "I hope you enjoy that, see ya Aria." Ty said.

Ty walked down from the stairs and then down to the doors below Aria and finally he walked down to the bottom part of the night club, the music had changed as he got down there and he walked past the bartender but that was normal. He looked at the booths and made sure to avoid the Blue Sun that was sitting there when he noticed a cute girl that really reminded him of his friend Haley in the corner, she looked to be younger than Haley though not by much since she seemed to be at least twenty one or twenty.

She had long black hair with a slim jaw bone, round green eyes, thin eyebrows, a normal nose and high cheek bones. She looked to be 5'3 with the heels on and probably 5'1 without and wore a dark purple spaghetti string tank top and a black skirt with black heels. She, like Haley, seemed to take good care of herself though her body wasn't as finely toned as Haley's had been but she still had some defined muscles and hourglass shaped body. She seemed to have natural breast that were a good size for her body type but that wasn't what attracted Ty to her; good boobs were a bonus to everything else.

She seemed nervous though sitting in the booth but as soon as she made eye contact with him she perked up a bit and waved him over. He made his way over and sat down in her booth and said "What can I do for you?" "She was right you stand out, I'm sorry where are my manors I'm Jessica you helped my friend out her name was Haley, do you remember her?" Jessica asked.

Ty thought for a second about Haley and remembered the good times, there was a lot of fighting against Blue Suns in that time period but Haley and him had formed a great friendship during that time, "Yea I remember her, she was in trouble with the Blue Suns and I gave her shelter and killed off the guys who were hunting her." Ty said. "Yep that's her she also mentioned that you two did more than just hang around." Jessica said with a knowing smile. Ty smirked, yeah they had done more than that in the year and a half they spent together but despite how good it was they parted ways which was what they both had wanted though they held strong feelings for each other still, "Yea that's true…alright Jessica what's this about?" Ty asked.

Jessica took a deep breath and let it out, obviously she wasn't used to what was going on, she was completely innocent to the ways of the life Ty had grown up in, Ty inwardly smiled happy that there were people who had the innocent childhood and teenage years he never had. Jessica looked back to him as she said "Okay me and Haley are more than friends and she told me if anything ever happened to her to go to the Citadel and give the bartender my number to give to you, the thing is I haven't heard from her in a week which isn't like her since we talked everyday and I'm worried about her and I was hoping you'd go check on her."

_Shit sounds like Tarak might have looked for her, god damn it!_ Ty looked around and saw the Sun sitting close by then looked back to Jessica and asked "Do you have a way to get home or did you taxi here on another ship?" "Taxied why?" Ty stood up and said "You need to come with me then this place isn't safe for you to be seen with me and we'll talk about this in a safer place, I don't want the Suns hunting you next."

Ty helped Jessica out of the booth and said "One thing before we go, I need you to trust me completely so if there's trouble you'll follow my lead no matter what, do I have your trust?" Jessica nodded and said "Haley trusted you with her life and so do I." "Alright let's go." Ty said. Ty walked with her back to his bike watching for anyone Suns or merc related until they got to his bike. A healthy paranoia was a good thing sometimes and had stopped more than a few incidents from happening.

As they reached his bike he opened his small storage compartment where he kept an extra set of black clam diggers and ammo and grabbed out his spare breather mask. He got onto his bike and handed her his spare breather mask as he said "Wear this; we're going to hit the relay and go to my place where it's safe." Jessica put the mask on and got on with him, "This bike is safe right?" Jessica asked with the mask distorting her voice a little.

Not the first time a passenger had asked him that but every time had brought a smile to his face because he always wanted to respond about how it had only shut down mid relay jump a few times but he needed her to trust him so he responded "Yea built it myself been riding it for a few years now and haven't died, trust me your safe." "I trust you." Jessica said. Ty's mask activated as he started his space bike up and lifted off the ground. Ty headed for the relay when his VI interface said "Plot destination please Mr. Rhoddy." "Home." Ty said. "Destination chosen prepare for a mass jump." The VI interface said.

Ty relay hopped his way back to his home system and to the space station that was his home, "Jump successful." The VI said. "Thank you." Ty said. "You're welcome." The VI responded. As Ty approached he sent the activation codes to the docking bay on the station to get the doors open. The docking doors opened and Ty flew in landed in the docking area which was basically a giant garage. As he landed he took notice that his dad and brothers vehicles weren't there, _hmmm they must be out finding Blue Suns_, Ty thought. That was basically their occupation now, Blue Sun hunters.

Ty got off and his mask retracted, Jessica took hers off and gave it back to Ty who put it back in the storage compartment on the back of his bike. "This is your home?" Jessica asked looking around at the big room which got turned into a garage by Ty and his family. Ty nodded as he motioned her to follow him, as they began walking he said "Yea me, my dad and brother live here, used to belong to some biotic extremists who…well Haley probably told you what happened." Ty said as he started walking to the door that led into the main room.

It was a big facility that had been converted into a home by Ty and his family, they broke down certain walls and built others else where so it would have a kitchen, living room and about fourteen bedrooms in case they found someone who needed a place to stay and rejuvenate but couldn't in a normal fashion because of mercs, gangs or the Alliance. It was a well decorated place and had all the living necessities and felt like a home, they thought of it as a home as well but sometimes they all dreamed they'd be able to live planet side some day…juvenile fantasy but one that crossed their thoughts once in a while.

Jessica caught up behind him and said "Actually no she didn't, she said you didn't like your secrets being spread around so she didn't say anything. She said you were a mysterious guy but also a real charmer, you hated the Blue Suns and were willing to do anything to hurt them but that's all she said." Ty rounded the corner and walked through the living room as he changed direction for his room, "Whoa big place, how'd you guys come by this?" Jessica asked. "Took it from some biotic extremists that threatened the wrong person, it's a nice place to relax but none of us really do." Ty said. Ty hit the green hologram on his door and it opened letting them both walk in "Make yourself at home, sit where you feel comfortable." Ty said.

Jessica sat down in a plush chair and Ty took his sniper, pistols and tomahawks off and put them on a shelf, he took his hood off and said "Alright so you and Haley are together and you haven't heard from her in a week and she told you if something would ever happen to her to find me right?" Jessica nodded and said "Yea she said that it probably wouldn't happen because you took out all the Blue Suns hunting her but she said someone might still come after her from them." Ty sat on his bed and crossed his legs and said "I hope she's alright the Blue Suns that were hunting her are all dead but Tarak might of heard I was helping her and sent people to get her." "What happened with you and the Blue Suns?" Jessica asked.

Ty smirked despite how bad things got, it was mostly so he didn't drown her with his own problems. _What didn't happen, killing innocents was a normal day for them_, Ty thought to himself but said "Bunch of assholes is what they are, I had worked with them for a while and it didn't turn out how they thought and now they are hunting me just like the Alliance." "Wait the Alliance is hunting you?" Jessica asked_. Oh wow she really doesn't know who I am and my legend, well at least some people don't know maybe there is hope for an innocent future...right that's never gonna happen. _"Yea I didn't do anything to them personally but my grandfather was an assassin and now I'm to be hunted and my children and their children and so on so forth...don't worry your safe and they'll never come looking for you. Where was Haley last I'll go look there first and see what I find." "She was on Freedoms progress visiting her mom…you think she'll be alright she wont be hurt or anything right?" Jessica asked. "If she is whoever did it is going to die a very gruesome death, she'll be fine though Haley can handle herself." Ty said.

Jessica nodded and Ty stretched out his back, speaking of going home he probably needed to get her back to her place where ever it was unless she decided to stay in one of the spare rooms, that could be safer, "So what do you wanna do, I can drop you off at your place or you can bunk here it's your choice." Jessica looked up and asked "Where would I sleep if I stayed here?" Ty shrugged and said "We got a lot of spare rooms here so you could pick one of those."

Ty saw a smile creep onto Jessica's face, what an intoxicating smile she had, full of mischief that could reel you in, Ty didn't allow himself to fall for it just yet not wanting to be the one to chase. "And if I didn't want to bunk in a spare room by myself?" Jessica asked. _Damn she is a feisty one_, Ty thought, _reminds me a lot of Haley in a way._ Ty smirked then said "We'd figure something out." Jessica bent over and unstrapped her heels and slid her feet out of them, Jessica stood up and walked over to Ty and sat next to him so their shoulders were slightly touching.

Ty couldn't help the smirk that continued to plaster over his face; she obviously was looking for a good time and believed to have found it in Ty. Ty looked at her with his smirk and said "So I take it you wanna share a bed tonight." "Depends on if I get top or bottom and if you trust me completely, if I get top and you do then yes if not then I'll just have to…persuade you to let me have top and trust me." Jessica said with a flirty smirk. There was one thing Ty couldn't wrap his head around and something he didn't want to do, wasn't she with Haley and if she was he didn't want to her to cheat on his friend with him of all people. "What about Haley?" Ty asked. "She told me if I had the chance to take it with as much force needed." Jessica said still smiling.

_Eh sounds like Haley that's for sure and if I'm wrong then I'm a complete fucking asshole who was thinking with the wrong head, damn it to hell if Haley said fine then fine it is otherwise she's going to jump on my shit for not taking the chance while I had it. I'm still curious to why she would date someone who looked similar to her…ah fuck it I'm giving myself a headache. _Ty turned himself completely towards her and she did the same but she wrapped her legs around his waist and sat on his lap, Ty put his hand up and his omni-tool popped up and he locked his door then it disappeared.

Jessica made the first move by going in for the kiss though still being a bit shy about it as she gave him a long kiss. They both let their tongues explore the others mouth and as they did Ty rubbed his hands up and down her arms letting his right hand slip behind her neck into her hair while the other ran his hand up her back slowly. They stopped for a second with Jessica at a loss for breath, "Is this you're way of making sure I go look for her?" Ty asked in a joking manor. Jessica smile as she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, she leaned her forehead on his and whispered "No but you just gave me even more motivation to show you what I can do."

Their next kiss had no shy hesitation, no slow beginnings. It burned with passion and hunger even before their lips touched; their tongues danced with each other only stopping to get each others tank tops off. After she got his off they continued their kiss as Ty picked her up and laid her down on the bed with him on top between her legs. Ty planted tender kisses down her neck and then down the rest of her torso eliciting slight moans and sighs when he reached certain tender spots on Jessica, she had a nice well toned body and she could work it to as Ty soon found out when she pushed him over onto his side and got on top. She wasn't kidding about the on top thing apparently.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Suns

**A/N: Me no own nothing Mass Effect, Bioware and/or E/A owns it, Me just nerd, they big business corporation nerds. One last chapter before joining Shepard fully so enjoy, comments, constructive criticism, praise are welcomed. Now onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Ty's mind wandered for the hour he slept through many of his past memories until finally he woke up, he opened his eyes and started to shake the grogginess he had from his mind trying to get a feel of how his body was and how he was positioned. It didn't take very long to feel the extra arms on his body and the legs intertwining with his left leg. The bare skin that was touching him reminded him of the pleasurable few hours he had shared with Jessica.

Despite just meeting each other they had a very passionate few hours together but most of all the times Ty had engaged in sexual activity it was passionate. The way she kissed and made love was all Ty needed to feel to understand she was a very passionate person. Ty looked at Jessica who was wrapped on his side, _damn that was a great few hours but I need to go and find Haley I've already wasted to much time relaxing my body for an hour_, Ty thought. He had been asleep only for an hour but had been with Jessica for three hours before that, he needed to get going.

Ty ran his fingers along Jessica's arm gently not to wake her but just to feel the contact, _Can't say I regret this yet but we'll see how it all plays out, either way Jessica is gonna make Haley a lucky woman_. Ty moved Jessica's arm off gently so he didn't stir her then he got out of bed. Ty grabbed his tank top and clam diggers off the ground and put them back on and then walked to his shelf and started putting all his gear on.

He grabbed his tomahawks and spun them in his hands then put them in their holders on his back so the handles were pointing up for him to grab easier he then put his dual heavy pistols in his side holsters then put his sniper horizontal on his back waist holster, Ty picked his shoes off the ground and sat on the edge of the bed and began putting them on.

As he got his last one on he felt movement on the bed and then felt a set of hands on both of his shoulders that then ran down his chest, "That was awesome just so you know." Jessica said. It was awesome but it wasn't just his doing it took both of them to make it awesome, "You were to, make yourself at home around here my dad and brother will probably be around also so don't be afraid to talk to them." Ty responded. Ty felt her lips place kisses on his shoulder then she rested her chin on it so he looked back, "Be safe Ty and please bring her back safely." Jessica said.

Oh did he plan on bringing Haley back safely, if anyone had hurt Haley they were going to suffer. Ty was going to bring her back no matter what he had to do to get her back, Ty turned his head back to her to say something but he forgot because Jessica planted a slow kiss onto his lips, they both smiled into the kiss before they parted Ty said "I promise I will, sleep a little longer for how much energy we expended you'll need it." Jessica smiled and said "True, see ya Ty." Jessica let go of him and Ty got off the bed and walked out his door.

Ty walked down into the docking area and saw his brother by his own space bike doing what looked like mechanic work. They looked similar but also were different but one thing they had that no one could take from them was their brotherhood. RBZ 4 Life was more than three letters a number and the word life, it meant Rhoddy Boyz for life, it meant that nothing, not women, not distance, not even time could break their bond that they shared. They could always rely on each other to be their no matter what shit storm got in their way and no matter what they'd stand side by side with one another, to the death if they had to.

"Z!" Ty yelled. His brother turned and saw Ty and he opened his arms as he said "Well looky looky who we got here, what you don't have any other place to bring your women." Ty smiled and gave his brother a hug as he got to him, "Nah she needs my help; remember Haley?" Ty asked. Z nodded and said "Yea I still have nightmares of hearing her moan as I walked by." Ty slapped his brother in the chest as he chuckled and said "Shut up asshole, well Haley and this girl Jessica are together and she hasn't heard from Haley in a while and Haley told her to contact me so now I'm going to Freedoms Progress to see if the Suns are behind it." "Wait those two are dating? And you just shagged her?" Z asked.

Ty shrugged on the outside but hearing his brother say it didn't help how he felt about it, he needed to focus on getting Haley then apologize to her if she cared, even if she didn't he felt the need to apologize. "Haley told her it was alright I guess so my conscious is clear…for the most part. Anyway I gotta go is Daddy still out killing?" "Yea he just called, told me to tell you if you left before he got back to stay safe and that he loves you." Z said. "Alrighty if I'm not back tonight tell him I love him and tell Jessica not to worry and that means I'm out finding Haley alright?" Ty asked. Z nodded and said "I got it, stay safe alright some colonies have been attacked out in the Terminus system so be on your guard, love you." Ty hugged him again and said "Love you too; kill more Suns when you go out." Z nodded and went back to his bike.

Ty got on his bike and his mask activated, he lifted off and started flying towards the relay, "Plot destination please Mr. Rhoddy." The VI said. "Freedoms Progress." Ty said. "Destination chosen prepare for mass jump." Ty hit the relay and jumped to Freedoms Progress, he decelerated as he came out and the VI said "Jump successful." "Gracias." Ty said. "De nada." The VI responded. _Gotta love multilingual VIs,_ Ty thought.

Ty flew down to the planet and set down on the landing pad, he got off and his mask retracted as he took a look around at the colony. There wasn't a soul in sight. "Well no welcoming committee, not a soul in sight and it's about as quiet as a haunted house when something is about to jump out at you. Come on Haley I know you left me a clue of what happened to you." Ty said as he walked down the stairs. Ty walked through a food court area and saw plates with food still on them, "Slavers leave a bigger mess than this, nothing is even stirred...this is weird." Ty said.

Ty walked through a few empty areas getting really weirded out by the emptiness when he found mechs destroyed on the ground, the place should have been full of colonists, he should have met someone at the landing pad and the fact that there was no one here but nothing stirred began to deflate his hope that Haley was indeed okay.

Ty knelt down next to the mech and checked it out, "The rounds that took this out are fresh for sure and this thing sure took a beating but who the hell did it, no one is even here." Ty said. _Only one way for me to find out,_ Ty thought as he closed his eyes and focused his mind on the mech. He felt the energy from it then he opened his eyes. His eyes turned completely purple and as he looked around he saw the past unfold around him, a squad of Quarians were blowing through the mechs each with an assault rifle or shotgun with what looked like a female leading them wearing a purple outfit and mask.

Ty stood up and looked around in his vision and saw the mechs getting destroyed by this squad, they were definitely either marines or special operations judging on the amount of fire power they had. Ty closed his eyes then opened them again disconnecting from the memory imprint around him and his vision became normal once again, "Well now I know a squad of Quarians was here kicking these mechs asses but why were they all the way out here on a human colony. This doesn't add up Quarians wouldn't just come with guns blazing for no reason and they obviously didn't take the colonists." Ty said. He looked around at the emptiness and said "Right no one here with me, explaining myself to the air."

Moving on from the mechs Ty found his way through more of the colony but still with no sight of any life at all, this brought his instincts that were telling him to get the hell out now to the forefront of his mind but he pushed on. Ty went through a door and as he looked around for people he saw the group of Quarians that he saw in the memory sitting at a table which made him stop and tilt his head to the side at how weird it was that there were living people on the colony besides him. When they saw him though they weren't as confused as him since they got up and aimed all their guns at him, not exactly the reaction Ty expected.

Instincts took over not allowing Ty to flinch as he pulled his pistols out and kept his guns trained on them, _stand off as long as no one shoots we'll all survive_, Ty thought. "Who are you?" The lead guy said. "Prazza I'm the one in charge I ask the questions." A Quarian woman said pushing the lead guys gun down.

The female Quarian turned and put her hand out trying to stop Ty from shooting but when she saw him her voice was full of shock as she asked "Ty is that you?" Ty noticed her voice immediately, _what the fuck_, "Tali? What are you doing here; you look a bit diff-" Ty was interrupted by Prazza "We aren't standing down not until we know he's not a threat." Prazza said.

Ty sighed inwardly, Ty hadn't seen Tali for a while and this guy was putting a wedge in-between them because he couldn't follow orders apparently, "I am a threat but not to you, or at least not as long as you don't pull your trigger." Ty said motioning to the Quarians gun with his head. Tali giggled a little as she said "You haven't changed at all, everyone stand down this man isn't a threat to us trust me."

The Quarians put their guns down and Ty spun his pistols in his hands then put them back in their holsters, Tali put her hands down and walked over to Ty and as she reached him she gave him a friendly hug which he reciprocated. He had missed Tali a lot, there weren't many people he could count on as friends anymore since most of his friends had been killed but the ones he had left were true friends like her.

After they let go of each other Tali asked "Ty did you just get here or have you been here the whole time?" Ty shook his head and said "Just got here, I'm here looking for someone but this place looks like a neat group of slavers came through. What are you doing here and what's with your cool new outfit?" "Oh! I finished my pilgrimage and got a new suit, it's tradition among my people. I'm glad you like it but as for why we are here there is a Quarian here on his pilgrimage and we are here to get him out but he panicked when he saw our ship and activated the mechs to attack us."

Ty nodded, the Quarian was obviously scared out of his mind by what ever had caused this so his response was reasonable if not a little extreme since it was a Quarian ship coming to help, "Any idea what happened here?" Ty asked. "Your guess is as good as mine but its something bad that's for sure. There isn't anything stirred but everyone is gone, it doesn't give me a good feeling at all." Tali said. Ty nodded in response as he started looking around; some of the stuff was moved like if there was a struggle so he asked "Did you guys touch that?" "No why?" Tali asked. "Just making sure when I look at what happened I won't see you guys moving it." Ty said.

Ty looked at it then closed his eyes and focused on the object feeling the energy from the memory with his mind, when he felt connected to it he opened his eyes again making them all purple allowing him to see the past unfold. Haley was sitting on the bench with a recorder in her hands, for Ty it was like watching a video with no sound because he wasn't looking to hear the voices he was looking to see what happened, if he wanted to hear it he would've focused on the memory more but for now he was just content seeing what happened. "She looks fine here but she's recording herself." Ty said. "What?" Tali asked.

Haley's head jolted up then she got out from the seat and started talking faster into the recorder, "Hold on something is going on." Ty said. Haley looked like she was worried but she also had on her tough face as she looked back at the area where Tali was standing. Ty followed the direction she was looking to where Tali and the others were standing but he saw Blue Suns aiming their guns at Haley, he looked back at Haley who threw the recorder at them and charged with her hand back. "Damn it girl that's not how I taught you to take them on." Ty said. "Ty what's with your eyes? They are completely purple." Tali said. Ty saw the Blue Suns beat Haley and then begin taking her away which infuriated Ty but he stayed calm seeing them leave the recorder on the floor, Ty closed his eyes disconnecting from the memory then opened them and saw it on the floor still, "Haha I knew she would leave something." Ty said.

Ty walked over and picked up the recorder, this held the answer to some of his questions but he wasn't sure what exactly those answers would bring him. No answers he gained anymore made sense but he knew he had to find her so he began to set out but as he did he felt Tali's hand grab his bicep gently as she stopped him "Hold on Ty before you do…well what ever you are doing why did your eyes turn purple completely?" Tali asked.

Ty put the recorder in his pocket, _how to explain this lovely rare condition, hmm this could be difficult._ Ty rolled around his thoughts trying to figure out exactly how to explain it when he asked "You know like how humans and aliens can have biotic powers?" Tali nodded and Ty continued "Well I developed some rare case of powers but it isn't a biotic ability, if I see something for example I saw a destroyed mech out there before I came in here if I close my eyes and take all my focus and put it into the mech my eyes will turn completely purple as you saw and I can see what happened to it. The mech got annihilated by all of you with assault rifles and shotguns, I can't hold it forever but I can hold it for enough time to see everything that happened to what I'm focusing on. Everything leaves an imprint of memory and through that I can see what happened."

Ty couldn't read what Tali was thinking due to the mask and she wasn't giving off any body language that gave him a definitive answer but he figured her thoughts were along the lines of that he was crazy, "That's an amazing talent Ty, how come you never shared that with me before?" Tali asked. Ty smiled and said "What was I supposed to say during the time we knew each other and when I was your prisoner "hey I can see past events." you'd just call me crazy anyway. I gotta go though and find who I'm looking for she's in grave danger." Tali chuckled and said "Still chasing after girls I see." Ty smirked and said "Only when they are in distress otherwise they come to me for help, its nice seeing you again Tali I hope we meet again sometime when neither of us are busy or being a prisoner." "Me to Ty, stay safe okay." Tali said. "I'll stay as safe as I can but you do the same." Ty said.

Tali nodded and as Ty walked out the way he came she said "If we get any more visitors I'll handle it Prazza, understood." As Ty was walking back he heard gun shots going off, _great more company_, Ty thought. Ty hit his cloak and hurried his pace up trying to get back to his space bike as quickly as possible. As he got closer he saw two familiar faces, not friendly faces but familiar, _Miranda and Jacob what an unpleasant surprise_, Ty thought, _I could kill them silen-._ Ty's train of thought was stopped by what he assumed at first was a ghost, _Shepard…but she wasn't supposed to be done for a while,_ Ty thought.

Ty saw that they were headed the way he just left and were taking out anything in their way, _guess it was who I ran into before on the Citadel, well Shepard will soon meet a ghost from her past when she sees Tali...I hope Cerberus hasn't done anything to make Shepard kill her otherwise I'll kill her in return, a life for a life._

Ty walked hastily to his space bike after he passed Shepard and took off his cloak, as he got to his bike he pulled out the recording that Haley left and started it, "Ty if your hearing this than that means Jessica found you and Tarak's Blue Suns found me and took me away, I don't know what he wants from me but they are here right now tearing this colony apart looking for me. Please hurry and find me I don't want them to kill me…shit there almost in here Ty please hurry and if anything happens to me look after Jessica she's my-" Their was a slam then it continued "Shit, hey assholes looking for someone."

There was another slam then the recorder went dead, Ty put the recorder in his pocket feeling a fire lit in him to get her back safely and kill Tarak once and for all but then he looked at his bike, _they no doubtly saw it and placed a tracker on it, lets see if we can find it,_ Ty thought. Ty closed his eyes feeling a new memory around it so he focused on it then reopened his eyes. Miranda, Jacob and Shepard were all around his bike checking it out, Ty walked around and saw Miranda sneakily stick something on the side of his bike so he closed his eyes and opened them and looked at the spot on his bike. There was a new piece on his bike that wasn't there before so he bent down and looked at it, _that's not a new accessory that's for sure,_ Ty thought, _better not break it since they are obviously looking for me but it's not staying on my bike._

Ty picked it off and put it in his pocket then got on his bike, they were searching for him for some reason and if they wanted to see him they were going to see him but it was going to be on his terms not theirs. Alliance and Cerberus members had been trying to find him and his family for years, now they found him and he was the only one they were going to find.

Ty started his bike up and his mask activated, he checked his dash for his fuel level and to see if there was any tampering but he was good so he lifted off and decided to go where he knew Tarak would be, the place where they first met and the place where he ordered the deaths of all his friends_, this is a ballsy move but it's the only way I can find Haley._ "Plot destination please Mr. Rhoddy." The VI said. Ty sighed and said "Omega." "Destination set prepare for mass jump." The VI said. _Tarak isn't going to take any more lives and if Shepard and Cerberus get in the way then I'll put them down too…they'll all pay one by one for the pain they caused,_ Ty thought.

**A/N: Oh forgot to mention up top but as for romance scenes go, I don't plan on getting really graphic into it, I'll probably stay along the lines of describing up to the point when anyone is about to engage in sex but then just time lapse it. Sex is easy to write but not everyone enjoys reading it and everyone has their own idea of how it should be so I will do my best to write it in a tactful manner and not go severely overboard. As for how the last scene was with him and Jessica with him engaging in what is basically adultery at this point in the tale, I do not condone it in any way shape or form but for those who are offended by it right now, sorry, in a future chapter we can all laugh at Tys expense of judging things before getting all the information. It isn't completely as it seems but I won't spoil more despite it not being a huge reveal, see you next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Recruitment

**A/N and Disclaimer: I do not own anything Mass Effect related, the universe and its characters are Bioware and/or E/As. The only thing I stake claim in is the personalities of Ty and his friends and family that are not actually apart of the Mass Effect Universe, I stake claim in that and playing Mass Effect through all three games multiple times…Yes I know nerd but hey I embraced my inner nerdism its really freeing…Okay anyway here is the next entry to Suicidal Odds, enjoy ****.**

Ty came out of his mass jump in Omegas cluster and decelerated from FTL speeds, despite the light headedness he had from Relay hopping he was pretty clear with his objective, find Haley and kill Tarak for everything he ever caused. This wasn't the first chapter to have shared the both of them in a fight to the death, but it was certainly going to be the last. The lives of all his friends were on Tarak's head and he was going to pay for it all, his associates would get theirs as well, one by one.

"Jump successful." The VI said bringing Ty out of his thoughts. "Thanks." Ty said. "You're welcome." The VI responded. Ty flew to his docking station again going as fast and safe as he could not wanting to lose more time. After he landed he got off his bike with his mask retracting as he did and he began walking towards the Afterlife club to talk to the one person who would know exactly where Tarak was and who owed Ty one any way.

Ty got into the club and walked the long way once again to Aria to dodge the Blue Suns recruiter for now, as he got to the stairs Anto stopped him by stepping in front of him earning a hard glare from Ty but not backing down in the slightest. "No one sees Aria unless she wants to see you." Anto said. Ty rolled his eyes, Anto was picking the wrong time to stand in his way, "Shut it Anto maybe you should try intimidating little children maybe they'll think your threatening, I need to talk to Aria right now and if you don't get out of my way I'll just go through you." Ty responded reaching his hand to his pistol. "Anto send him up." Aria said.

Anto motioned Ty towards the stairs and got out of his way but grumbled something about him being an asshole, Ty got up the stairs and Aria motioned him to sit down, "So much for not coming back soon." Aria said with a smile. He wasn't planning on coming back but necessity always got in the way of plans, especially his plans.

Ty sat down adjacent to her and said "I found a lead on what I was looking for and it brought me back here, listen Aria I know you don't care about the mercs here unless it affects you personally but I need your help and you know how unwilling I am about asking for help." Arias attention was now solely on Ty as she nodded and said "Alright Ty what's going on?" "Tarak the leader of the Blue Suns here and me go a little ways back if you remember correctly. He's either trying to get to me or is just pissed that some Blue Suns were killed because of a girl so he kidnapped the girl that caused him trouble and I've basically been contracted to find her, he's here on Omega but I need to know where exactly, can you help me?" Ty asked.

Aria smirked, not much different from the last smirk she gave him but this one was of pure enjoyment and satisfaction, "You're a hard man to read Ty. I thought I had you figured out but you change your game once again. I know where he is and I can give you his location but if I do we'll be even, got it." "Yea I got it." Ty said. Aria smiled again with pure satisfaction and said "Good to hear, Tarak is trying to kill Archangel and he even has started hiring freelancers to help him out. Him, the Bloodpack and Eclipse have also joined forces to kill Archangel."

Ty raised his eyebrows, _all three major power players on Omega working together…this Archangel guy is almost as good as me when it comes to pissing people off,_ Ty thought. Ty shook his head in shock as he said "Wow that's so unlike them all, I still remember fighting them all the time because Tarak hated them, did the stick get un-wedged out of his ass or something?" Aria chuckled a little at Ty, "Thanks Aria I hope I see ya again." Ty said. Ty went to stand up but was stopped by Aria grabbing his arm, the smile had disappeared. "Whoa whoa where in the hell do you think your going? You can't just attack them head on Ty you'll get yourself killed and who you're looking for killed."

Ty sighed, truth was he didn't plan on surviving he just wanted to get Haley out and if he died in the process he was fine with it. Nights of nightmares and regret poisoned his mind for eight years and the pain he that he had been left with was overwhelming on most days. His revenge was about the only thing keeping him going at this point but if he ended up dead because of it, he was ready for it…He had been for a long time. Ty looked at Aria and said "I don't got any better plan its not like I can join the freelancers by myself someone in the Suns will know me and turn me in, if not they'll just gun me down."

Aria shook her head in response, there was obviously something he didn't know, "They won't gun you down Tarak wants you to himself for what you did to him in Ortega. Near death experiences have a way of pissing people off when they don't die." Aria said. Ty smirked slightly, he had almost had him when his Suns finally made him divert his path and have to run.

Arias hand moved down to his hand and squeezed it, despite Aria being a badass she had a soft spot for Ty as he did her though it wasn't the same feeling he felt for Haley, Aria wasn't that soft. "Think before you just go in guns blazing I don't want to hear about someone finding your corpse out there. Go get a dance or get a drink up here. Think through what you are doing, you usually always find your way in." Aria said. Ty nodded as Aria retracted her hand "Thanks for the advice Aria." Ty said. "No problem, see ya around Ty." Aria said.

Ty got up and walked down the stairs to a booth at the bottom of Afterlife and sat down in it, _I gotta think of a way to get to Tarak that wont harm Haley, damn I miss it when things were easy and there wasn't a double edge to everything. If I could get him alone and beat the crap out of him until he told me what I needed to know then I could find her but there's no way that I would know if he was telling the truth unless I just rip the information from his mind…no no no that'll leave me unconscious. I could be taken prisoner and get to him that way but he might execute her before I break free, damn think me think._

An Hour Later on a Cerberus Facility

"Three things before you go Shepard, first I suggest you get the Salarian Scientist Mordin Solus on Omega, he may be able to find a way to counter act the Seekers and without that counter measure you won't be able to fight the Collectors." The Illusive Man said. "I haven't even started yet and you're giving me orders." Shepard stated. "I was giving you a suggestion; I know you'll make the smart decision." The Illusive man said.

Oh did he get under her skin, almost every word out of his mouth was like nails on a chalk board full of half truths or bullshit or just ordering her to do something like she worked for him. She was using Cerberus to defeat the Collectors, she was teaming with them to do it not working for them or becoming apart of them. "Okay what's the next thing?" Shepard asked. "The man you ran into on the Citadel if you haven't figured out is Tyler Rhoddy, grandson of the late Franklin Rhoddy and son of Tim Rhoddy." The Illusive man said.

_No shit I figured that out when he barged into me_, Shepard thought. She had gotten a glimpse of the tattoo on his left forearm which she had seen in the news a few times when they wanted to remind people to keep an eye out for them. Now she was supposed to recruit him but then that guy chased him down to the next floor completely ruining that idea. Then he was on Freedoms Progress somewhere but they didn't even see him and Miranda's tracer said he left, how was she supposed to recruit someone who moved around so quickly?

The Illusive Man took a drag of his cigarette then blew the smoke out, instinct told Shepard to wave the smoke out of her face then shove the cigarette down his throat for blowing smoke at her but instinct was overridden by the fact she was just a hologram to him as he was to her. "He has strong feelings against both the Alliance and Cerberus and I don't expect he'll be easy to convince but Miranda's tracer has traced him to Omega. A man of his skills would prove useful in the coming days." "I've heard of him though I'm not entirely sure having someone who hates my guts because of my origins watch my back is a good idea, not to mention he doesn't seem to stay in one place for very long." Shepard stated.

The Illusive man smirked at Shepard's statement, "That's an understatement, him and his family are on top of the Alliances and Citadels most wanted lists but their base of operations has yet to be found, none of my agents or the Shadow Brokers can find it and when they do appear its in places like the Citadel and Omega and sometimes Illium but they just walk around freely and leave. It wouldn't surprise me at all if most people out on the fringes of our colonies or even on other aliens worlds believe they are just a myth, most information held on them is just speculation there are only few instances where they can be tied to certain actions, they are about as close to living legends you can get." The Illusive man explained.

The Illusive man took a drink out of his glass filled with some type of alcohol, Shepard couldn't wrap her head around how most wanted criminals could walk about freely an unnoticed, their faces were plastered all across the extranet, most people should know their faces, or at least their tattoos but they got around freely. He'd definitely be useful if they could get him to join, "Living legend or not how trusting should I be?" Shepard asked. "He's dangerous Shepard make no mistake about that. He has the skill to find and kill anyone even people I thought were untouchable so anyone you care about is at risk. My sources say he has a bad temper as well which runs in the family but his anger changes him, so I'd say don't piss him off and watch your back." The Illusive man said. "Changes him?" Shepard asked. "I don't have any concrete data but rumors are that it's like he turns into someone else, may be rooted to the loss of his crew years ago." The Illusive man said.

Well that was news to Shepard, she didn't know he had a crew to begin with but if he lost his he was obviously unstable, she knew she would be if she lost hers. "He sounds really unpredictable, is he really worth the trouble?" Shepard asked. "Yes he is. I won't lie to you Shepard he is about as unpredictable as they come but that's what makes him a valuable asset along with his talent, you may need someone like him on your squad. But be warned Shepard he is more dangerous than they say so stay on your toes around him." The Illusive man said. She was going to be on her toes anyway but at lest she had a heads up on this guy, "I will, what's the last thing?" Shepard asked. "I found you a pilot, I hear he's one of the best someone you can trust." The Illusive man said as he shut down the comm.

Three Hours Later on Omega

Miranda and Mordin stopped at the stairs as Shepard walked up to Aria, Aria motioned for her to sit down adjacent to her so Shepard sat down on the couch again, recruiting Mordin had went well despite having to cure the plague but hey she was able to save that Batarian near the entrance, the two humans in their apartment and Mordin's assistant so over all it went great. Aria looked as she did before, mentally occupied and not looking for company from Shepard, she glanced over to her and asked "What do you need?"

Next on her to do list was getting the most wanted criminal, after speaking to the Illusive man she read over his dossier that she had been given, he had a crew of ten guys including himself but the Blue Suns had murdered eight of them somehow leaving Ty and his second in command alive. There were a few comments on things that it is thought he did and accounts from people who had personally met him and were saved by him in some way shape or form. All spoke of highly of him which contradicted everything Shepard had heard of before and after speaking to the Illusive man, a lot of the Alliance put out propaganda about his family to get more people to help hunt him which meant everything Shepard had ever heard was bad.

Shepard leaned forward as she asked "I'm looking for Tyler Rhoddy, do you know him?" Aria smiled for a second, there was a hint of what seemed like joy in Arias eyes, she definitely knew him. "I know a lot about him and he knows a lot about me, why?" Shepard raised an eyebrow at her response, Miranda's tracker had his location but it didn't specify where he was on Omega just somewhere there.

Shepard couldn't shake the feeling that Aria wasn't about to give up his location, "I'm looking to recruit him for my mission, I've heard he's valuable in a fight." Shepard said. Arias smile stayed, Shepard may have just met her but she had yet to see her so fond of someone, "You heard very well, he is an expert in close quarter hand to hand fighting along with an expert at using his signature tomahawks. Throwing them or fighting with them people usually end up dead, he also likes to dual wield pistols and use a sniper rifle which he is very good at doing." Aria said. "What else do you know about him, is he mentally stable? I heard he may have a bad temper?" Shepard asked.

Aria laughed this time, it was in a mocking manor not a cheery one though like she should have known better or something, "Bad temper? That's an understatement if I've ever heard one. He doesn't take to kindly to people who disrespect him or threaten his family, and you better pray he doesn't see you hurting an innocent, especially if they are Quarians."

Quarians? Innocents? Were they talking about the same guy? Aria leaned forward and said "I respect him to much to divulge those details though, his temper and the reasons behind it isn't my story to tell that is his; he's mentally sound and a good guy. Worked for me loyally for six months and now does it on and off when I have work that only he can do. He's loyal to anyone he promises his loyalty to, well unless it breaks his code." "Code?" Shepard asked. "He lives by a code that revolves around respect, honor, loyalty, family, and not hurting civilians, he doesn't break it for anyone and that includes me."

Now he has a code, Aria was pushing what Shepard could believe. Aria smiled again though and continued "He's always intrigued me; he's as likely to charm a woman as he is to kill someone without second thought in public." Now that sounded like him. "Any idea where he is?" Shepard asked. Aria stayed silent contemplating her answer until she said, "Yea he's down in the bar trying to figure some stuff out, be careful he's on a mission of his own and isn't in a good mood, if you want his help your going to need to help him." Aria said. _That isn't much of a change, story of my life really,_ Shepard thought. "Thanks for the information." Shepard said as she stood up. "I'm sure he knows your coming, nothing ever gets past him." Aria said.

* * *

Ty had been thinking for four hours while still sitting in the booth thinking of what to do when he started hearing a confrontation at the bar, "Who's next Turians, you gonna start poisoning them next because you don't like them." Ty looked up and then there was a gun shot, _the fuck is going on, _Ty thought. Before Ty could figure it out he saw two Blue Suns members walk by him towards the exit, _and there is my information hub,_ Ty thought as he got out of the booth. He started following them into the back ally when one of them spoke up, "So I heard from Tarak and he wants to move that bitch somewhere else." One of the Suns said. _That bitch? Oh you are going to pay for that,_ Ty thought. "Any idea why he's keeping her alive?" The other asked. "Yea you know that one guy who worked for the Suns and grew a conscious, she's a friend of his so Tarak figures use her to get to him but now since Archangel is creating a ruckus he wants her moved so he doesn't get attacked on two fronts." The first guy said.

_Grew a conscious, grew a fucking conscious! Oh that's it!_ Ty pulled out his tomahawks and said "Hey assholes the Blue Suns are a bunch of pussies." Ty took a step forward and as the second guy turned around Ty's tomahawk left his hand and hit him square between the eyes. Before the other could pull out his gun Ty threw his tomahawk at the guys foot making it impale on it, the man fell to the floor and whimpered in pain so Ty walked up to him and said "So lets find out what more you know about Tarak's plans."

Ty ripped his tomahawks out of both bodies and started dragging the guy by his foot into the market area, Ty dragged him all the way to a ledge that some people were leaning on and said "If you don't want to die you'll leave us alone." The people took notice of his gear and tattoos and nodded before walking away casually, Ty picked the guy up by his throat and examined him, the man was human and was whimpering in pain about his toes but had anger written in his eyes, Ty didn't care he could out anger anyone, probably not a good trait but it was true. Ty squeezed the mans throat a little cutting off some air flow and said "Shut it you bitch now you're gonna tell me what I want to know or I'm going to send you on a free fall to your death, understand."

The man didn't seem to hear him either that or he was ignoring him so Ty rolled his eyes and head butted the guy hard in the face, "Ow you asshole you broke my nose." The man said in pain as blood began pouring out. "That's just one of the hundreds of bones I can break, now listen up before I decide to break all your bones for shits and giggles. Where is Tarak hiding my friend?" Ty asked. "Up shit creek you fucking asshole." The man said.

They never took the easy way out, granted Ty figured he wouldn't but he had hoped that the guy would've been smart enough to realize that his reputation was not fairy tales. "Remember this is your own fault." Ty said. Ty dropped the man to his feet then grabbed his arm and twisted it so his elbow was facing him making the man bend over, "One last chance, where?!" Ty asked. "Up your ass and to the left, you aint getting shit from me." The man said. Ty kicked the mans knee hard breaking it and making him fall to his knees then he followed it up by breaking his arm, the man screamed in agony but was cut off by Ty kneeing him in the face.

As the man screamed more attention was brought to Ty and so were more Blue Suns, "Hey you get your hands where we can see them." Ty turned around slowly and saw five Suns aiming assault rifles at him, _not the worst odds, cloak and tomahawk time_, Ty thought. "Really do you know who I am, you pull that trigger and not only will my family hunt you down and kill you but your leader will to, I'm Tyler motherfucking Rhoddy assholes."

The two Batarians smirked obviously thinking about the rewards they thought they would get to cash in, the three humans looked at each other in a bit of shock then one gained his courage back and said "Alright get your hands up and we'll take you to our leader so he can kill you for what you're doing." The guy Ty was interrogating was screaming in agony still and hadn't moved so Ty just smirked and said "What him he aint nothing to Tarak, trust me I should know."

The mercs looked at each other and continued aiming at him, Ty saw Shepard with Miranda and a Salarian walking towards him so Ty started putting his hands up slowly and said "Hey no need for hostility let me just give you something real quick." Before anyone said anything Ty hit his cloak and disappeared, the mercs started looking around cursing each other for not shooting him but then Ty reappeared with his tomahawks in his hands behind them and started attacking.

Ty hit one of the Batarians in the side with his right tomahawk then spun and hit the other with his other tomahawk in the head, Ty pulled them out and kicked one of the humans in the gut then brought his tomahawk down into his skull and left it there, he turned around and punched a human who was about to attack him in the face then brought his tomahawk into his chest piercing his armor and killing him. Ty killed the wounded Batarian by stamping on the back of his neck then he saw the last merc running for his life so Ty took a step and aimed then released "Oh no you don't!" Ty yelled.

The tomahawk spun through the air and pierced the human in the back of the head making him fall dead right in front of Shepard, Ty pulled his tomahawk out of the other humans skull then walked back over to the guy he was interrogating, "Alright asshole you got one last chance before I kill you either answer my fucking question or get ready for a painful death." Ty said as he lifted up the man by his throat. "Alright alright all I know is that Tarak is moving her to a Blue Suns facility out of this system I don't know where or when but she's no longer here, just let me go man." The man said.

Ty let go of the merc and the man fell to the ground, he was already behind and now they were moving her that plummeted his luck from nil to none existent. Ty started walking away and as he did Shepard met him face to face with his tomahawk in her hand, "This belongs to you." Shepard said kind of sarcastically with a smirk. "Yea it does." Ty stated as he took it.

Anger seeped into the pores of Ty's soul moving his body in a way that was deadly for the living mercenary, Ty pulled out his other tomahawk and turned around and threw both at the wounded merc, the first hit his chest and the second impaled into his skull, "GODDAMMIT!" Ty yelled into the air, she was gone and he was now behind on finding her trail, it would get cold if he didn't find a way back on it quick.

Ty walked back to the merc and ripped out his tomahawks then put them away on his back holders. Ty looked at the mercenary again as blood came out of his skull, Ty's anger surged again thinking about Haley being tortured at the hands of the Suns so he kicked the dead merc in the face as hard as he could leaving a foot imprint. He shook his head in disbelief at the predicament, _how could I have allowed this to happen, I told her I would look out for her, how did I not hear about them going after her until now?_ Ty began walking back towards Shepard as he pulled out Miranda's tracker, he grabbed Miranda's hand forcefully and dropped the recorder in it then pushed her hand away as he said "Next time you place a tracker I won't be so kind to return it." "How'd you-" Miranda was cut off by Ty pushing past her and starting to walk away.

He didn't have time for whatever they wanted, Haley needed him now and nothing they'd say would change that. Ty got about three steps away when his arm was grabbed and he was spun around, _wrong fucking move,_ Ty thought. As he spun around he pulled his pistol out in a fluid motion and aimed it at Shepard's forehead who was the culprit of turning him around. Shepard's squad pulled out pistols of their own and Shepard was standing there now with an agitated look.

Getting a gun in ones face didn't ever lead to sunshine's and butterflies so the agitated look was understandable but Ty was in no mood for understanding, "Don't give me that look I am not in the mood. A good friend of mine has her life in danger and if I don't find her she's as good as dead, not to mention that she's about to be moved and I have no idea where so you'll have to excuse me for not being in the exact mood to talk." Ty glared through her and into her Miranda's eyes and then the Salarian's, he could take them if he needed to but he brought his glare back to Shepard as he asked "What the fuck do you want last I checked I didn't answer to Alliance or Cerberus and if you're here to collect me then get ready for death."

Shepard had on the default N7 armor dark grey and red and had a shotgun on her back along with a grenade launcher and two pistols one heavy and the other a machine pistol. She had long black hair that went down past her shoulders but stopped before the middle of her back, she had round eyes and thin eyebrows with dark vibrant blue eyes. She had high cheek bones and nicely shaped lips that were accented by scars on that had a slight orange glow to them. She was pretty but Ty wasn't in a flirtatious mood especially with a former Alliance now working with Cerberus woman. From what Ty had read she grew up a spacer but when she was on the planet called Akuze she lost all of her squad being a sole survivor, no one escaped from something like that unscathed, Ty knew from personal experience.

Shepard seemed to lighten up a bit as she crossed her arms a little and shifted her weight to her right leg, she looked him up and down, no doubtly comparing him to the vids she probably had seen from the Alliance, she finally said "Alright I'll lose the agitated look but how about you lower the gun." "Why should I?" Ty asked. Shepard smirked a little and said "Lower the gun and you'll find out, besides if you weren't interested in what I had to say you would've shot already."

True statement but Ty just stared at her for a few more seconds then lowered his gun slowly watching the Ice Queen and the Salarian do the same, he needed to get moving but obviously Shepard wasn't going to let him go without talking to him for whatever her reason was. "You've acquired a few minutes of my time so tell me what you want and I'll go." Ty said. "I just have a few questions first being why you nearly knocked me down at the Citadel and why you were on Freedoms Progress." "I'm sure Miranda can tell you why it happened at the Citadel." Ty said bitterly. "You know each other?" Shepard asked looking at Miranda. "He infiltrated my facility looking for information on you and your squad and we caught him. As for why he nearly knocked you over it's because the man chasing him was a Cerberus officer, two were trying to catch him and get him on the Normandy since he willing admitted to not working with us." Miranda said.

Ty smirked, he hoped those bastards had gotten arrested or shot down for chasing him, "Good memory and Freedoms Progress was the same reason I'm here which is to find my friend; she was on Freedoms Progress before the Blue Suns captured her." Ty said. "That colony was abducted by Collectors any chance of your friend being alive is gone." Miranda said coldly.

The need to put a bullet between her eyes became almost overpowering as Ty glared at her; Shepard took notice of his look and muttered under her breath "Smooth Miranda." Ty pointed at her and raised his voice as he said "Shut it you premodanna princess bitch you don't know what you're talking about or who my friend is. She is alive and she was abducted by the Blue Suns, besides if the Collectors did abduct them then it was after she was gone."

Miranda was shocked at what Ty called her and Shepard and Mordin had slight smirks as Shepard responded, "How are you sure of it?" "I found a recording she left me in one of the rooms where I met some Quarians, Tali'Zorah being one of them, I heard the struggle and she told me they were there for her and if that wasn't enough I saw it happen." Ty said.

Shepard seemed to perk up hearing Tali's name which told Ty that his friend was still alive but she gave him a weird look and asked "Saw it happen? I thought you weren't there…or are the stories true about you being able to see the past?" "Stories? Is that what they call it now? Well that's fucking Cerberus and Alliance for you never want to admit the truth always hide behind bullshit and lies using it as smoke and mirrors to the truth like when they killed my grandfather. I can see past events if I focus on it, it is a rare power and I'm one of two with it but I have it and I was able to legitimately see her taken away."

Images from the memory flashed into Ty's brain seeing Haley getting kicked and punched by the mercenaries, it chilled his blood making him want to kill every Blue Sun he saw. "Who's the other person who has it and how do you know Tali?" Shepard asked. "My brother has it and as for me and Tali we have known each other for seven years and the rest is none of your business, next question." Ty said. Shepard nodded slightly though Ty could see questions lurking in her eyes; this was getting drawn on to long, "So your friend was captured by the Blue Suns?" Shepard asked.

Well she finally made it back on subject, Ty felt the urge to clap slowly but he fought back the urge and said "Ding ding you got it their leader Tarak has her and is going to move her since Archangels giving him so much trouble and he wants to get under my skin, next." "How do you plan on getting to her or Tarak?" Shepard asked. "One of three ways, one I shoot every motherfucking Blue Suns member between me and him and hope he doesn't kill her or B I get captured by them and hope he doesn't kill her before I get loose or three be patient and find the vessel she's being transferred to, go in get her and blow it to motherfucking smithereens." Ty said. The Salarian grabbed his chin and said very quickly "First two very unlikely judging on the Blue Suns reactions at my clinic, last one very possible." "Thank you for the expert opinion, honestly though I gotta go and make my decision and judging on my irritation at Tarak right now I'm leaning towards option A, I'll see ya around, actually I probably won't." Ty said.

Before Ty could leave Shepard said "What if I helped you, we have to go get Archangel and we are signed as freelancers you could come with us and go after Tarak." Ty chuckled, _working together with Cerberus and Shepard, rrrriiiggghhhttt_, Ty thought but said "And blow your operation completely I don't think the princess would approve." Ty really liked that new nickname; Miranda looked less than pleased by it. "You could feign a negotiation and get him to tell you where she is then we get Archangel and kill Tarak." Shepard said.

_She really wants me on this squad_, Ty thought for a second and said "I've been around for twenty three years and been on the run for all twenty three of them from the Alliance. I've been backstabbed, I've lost more friends than I want to remember and have been almost killed more times than I can count. I've been around you could say." Shepard chuckled slightly at Ty's last comment but then he continued "I know when someone's trying to get me to join them for something, what is this really about Shepard I don't have the power to read minds." Shepard stood up straighter as she said "The Collectors are abducting human colonies and I'm putting together a squad to take the fight to them, they say it's a suicide mission and it's impossible but I plan on walking away from it. You're a skilled marksman, a skilled fighter in hand to hand combat along with being an expert tomahawk thrower and fighter and your life on the run has strengthened you for any fight, I need you on my squad." Shepard said.

Ty laughed a little to himself, he had never heard so much flattery about his skills definitely from someone in the Alliance, then again he never met anyone in the Alliance so she could have just been blowing smoke up his ass, Ty shook his head a little and said "I didn't need all that flattery about my skills but thanks anyway…I'm probably not as good as they say I am in my dossier." "I disagree." Mordin said. "Me to." Miranda said. _Hmm was that respect for my skills? Nah she's just trying to help recruit me, _"Okay I guess I am but I promised that I'd bring my friend back to another friend and I plan on doing that and as entertaining as your mission sounds full of danger and going around killing people I keep my promises and I'm not going to leave my friend to die. That might be Cerberus's gig but it isn't mine." Ty said. "I'll help you find her if you join my squad, we need you Ty." Shepard said.

_If I join this suicide squad I could save Haley and finish out the mission and cut loose before Cerberus or Shepard gets the Alliance on me…may do some good for once._ "Do I have to answer to the princess because I don't answer to Cerberus…ever." Ty said. "You're on my squad and you answer to me and no one else." Shepard said. Ty nodded, that was fine, Shepard was Alliance but at least she wasn't Cerberus, that was a little more acceptable. "Alright I'll join but only because I need help finding my friend, after I find my friend I'll stay with you until the job is finished and then I'm gone I promise that." Ty said. Shepard nodded and put her hand out for him to shake, Ty looked at it at first not wanting to but if he was going to be apart of a crew instead of leading it he had to be a team player, Ty shook her hand getting a firm shake from her. "Alright lets head to back to the Normandy so I can refill on ammo then we'll go get Archangel." Shepard said. Ty nodded and followed them as they walked "Oh and I'm bringing my bike with me onto your ship even though you have a shuttle." Ty said with a smile. "Great." Miranda said dryly.

**A/N: Next up on the list is an actual mission from the game, recruiting none other than everyone's favorite Turian, he likes long walks on the Palavens moon and paints Reaper blood on the walls and ground for a living, any takers? If I was fem Shep I'd bang him…hmmm that was out loud wasn't it, ah who am I kidding I actual did do that play through so in an essence I did bang him…that sounded much worse didn't it. Hmm anyway moving away from banging Turians a little explanation to Tys powers, well more of it will be revealed as the story goes on but I'd like to point out that it is what Javik and the protheans did but mixed with *spoilers redacted* but despite that when I originally wrote chapters 1 – probably around 30 or 40 it was about two years ago and I had yet to know anything about Javik or the protheans in general except they were wiped out and Vendetta was on Thessia before Cerberus stole it so when I finally got the dlc and Javik did the whole memory thing by touching Shepard I went all fan boy because I didn't know it existed and I was able to give a better explanation of it in my story aside from, it happened. Anyway I will see you next time, comments, constructive criticism, praise, all welcomed and appreciated so do not be afraid I do not bite. Just let me know how I'm doing, granted I know these beginning chapters are slow but it all picks up once aboard the Normandy. Until next time.**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Archangel

**A/N/Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Mass Effect universe, Bioware and/or E/A do. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co that are not apart of the actual universe. Now onto the next chapter of Suicidal Odds.**

Shepard was restocking on ammo as Ty leaned against the counter that went around the Galaxy map as he waited for her. He felt eyes on him from every direction but then again he was on a Cerberus ship which meant he was in enemy territory for the most part. One set of eyes had been boring into the back of his head since he got on, the red head next to the terminal had been trying to catch his gaze for a while but he had been able to ignore it up to this point. He couldn't take the feeling of someone boring into the back of his head so he turned and looked at the red head who quickly averted her gaze to the terminal in front of her.

Before she had looked down Ty caught a hint of fear in her eyes, he had earned that fearful reputation but it didn't make him feel any better to be able to scare some innocent woman with a turn of his head_, if I'm going to work with Shepard I have to be a team player,_ Ty reminded himself. "So who are you?" Ty asked.

The red head perked up bringing her attention to him again, she had a sliver of hope in her eyes but for why it was there Ty wasn't completely sure. "I'm Yeoman Kelly Chambers but you can call me Kelly." Kelly said. "Alright Kelly what do you do on this ship?" Ty asked. "I keep track of everyone on this ship and inform Shepard about them, I watch everyone's emotional health on the side to make sure that Shepard knows if they need to talk to her, I take it you are Tyler Rhoddy?" Kelly asked. Ty smirked slightly as he thought, _she's a psychologist and she's working for Cerberus, did the Illusive man ever think of taking a psych exam himself. Maybe he'd realize how fucked up he is. _"The one and only but call me Ty, you enjoy your job being a people person and working for Cerberus?" Ty asked. Kelly nodded and said "What can I say I'm a people person and as for Cerberus they aren't as bad as people say."

Ty chuckled, _aren't as bad as people say my ass, you obviously got the fluffy side of things since the Illusive man read you like a book._ "Tell that to my dead grandfather." Ty stated a bit colder than he wanted. The woman didn't deserve his anger, she was probably about the only innocent Cerberus member there was because of how oblivious she was but that wasn't her fault, the Illusive man was a master of smoke and mirrors. "If I may ask, what brings you on this mission if you hate Cerberus?" Kelly asked. "A friend of mine was kidnapped and Shepard offered to help me if I helped her, I'll stay around until this is over but my friend is the main reason I'm here." Ty said. "I see, so you go around rescuing friends for a living?" Kelly asked with a smile trying to lighten the mood.

_I wish I had been able to rescue my friends, _Ty thought but didn't voice it for the woman's sake. That and he didn't want her to pick at his brain. "I'm a big game hunter, big game being the Blue Suns at least. I've spent the last eight years hunting those who betrayed me by taking everything they had, business, friends, associates, any one who wasn't innocent and were close to those men and women have been taken care of." Ty said.

Kelly gave Ty a weird look, a well deserved look since Ty had said that all calmly without even blinking but just like all those who weren't used to the life Ty was born to, Kelly wouldn't understand it, understanding wasn't easy Ty had no delusions of that. "Do you enjoy killing people?" Kelly asked. Ty shrugged and said "Depends, I don't get a warm feeling from just killing someone, but when I have my revenge finally I think I will enjoy killing the people who caused me so much pain. Years of torment will be crammed into a few minutes for them. Before you ask I know this is not normal or good, I have no delusions of what I do, I know its bad but don't let it fool you just 'cause I kill people doesn't mean I'm not a nice guy, just don't backstab me or betray me and we'll be friends."

Kelly nodded slightly gauging everything he had just said no doubt so she could give Shepard a review of what she thinks of him but that was fine, there was some things that were better getting out of the way early. To Ty's surprise though Kelly's lips turned upwards slightly as she said "Nice to know there's a soft side under all of your violence." _Soft side? I think I can hear all my friend's spirits laughing in hysterics right now…soft side? _"I wouldn't call it my soft side but…I don't really know what I'd call it but soft side, I'm not so sure I have one of those anymore." Ty said as he rubbed the back of his hood to rub his head in confusion.

Kelly laughed lightly at Ty's confusion and comment but before she could say anything Shepard and Miranda came out of the elevator, _you just had to bring her along didn't you,_ Ty thought, _this better not lead to one of those trying to get people to bond moments._ "Oh so you're bringing the princess to see me in action?" Ty asked sarcastically. Miranda rolled her eyes; she really didn't like that nickname. "Really, Shepard you sure we should bring him?"

The attempt to get him to be sidelined on the mission was a very bad idea Ty thought, definitely since they were supposed to watch each others backs and he was feeling like letting her watch her own right now. "Hey I have to "negotiate" with Tarak so she is bringing me along, if you don't like it stay here." Ty said. "Alright you two that's enough bickering we have a job to do so lets do it and try not to kill each other." Shepard said with a smirk on her face. Ty nodded slightly let Miranda and Shepard walk ahead of him so he didn't have to walk next to the Ice Queen.

After getting through the airlock and back onto Omega Shepard, Ty and Miranda walked up to the Batarian who was leaning against the transport and Shepard said "We're on the mission." The Batarian than said "I hope you're ready, Archangel has been annihilating you free lancers." "Ready when you are." Shepard said. The Batarian stepped forward and said "Get in." _What a cheery fellow,_ Ty thought. Everyone got in and they flew to the location to find Archangel, as the shuttle landed they the doors opened allowing Ty to get out first, he turned back around to see Miranda's hand reaching out to the seat to pull herself out so he grabbed her hand and helped her out, "Thanks I didn't know you could be a gentlemen." Miranda said. "No problem I had the same misconception about you thinking you couldn't be an ice princess." Ty said shot back. "Girls." Shepard scolded. "She started it." Ty retorted.

Shepard smirked slightly as she got out but then another Batarian came into view and said "About time they send me someone who looks like they can fight, they tell you what we are up against?" _Hmm is that Salkie_, Ty thought. "Just tell me where to go." Shepard said. "Archangel is held up in the building at the end of the boulevard over there he's got a superior position and the only way to it is to go over a very exposed bridge, it's a killing ground, but he's getting tired, making mistakes, we'll have him soon enough." The Batarian said. "I'll get to him; just point me to that bridge." Shepard said. "I like your attitude but we have a plan in place, you'll be on a distraction team, head straight over the bridge and keep Archangel busy until the infiltration team can sneak behind him."

Ty didn't like that plan, he signed up for Shepard's suicide mission not to be cannon fodder for the Blue Suns again, before he could shut his own mouth he said "That's gonna be suicide dude what the hell." "Pretty much you look like you can handle it, hey do I know you?" The Batarian asked. Ty smirked, _definitely Salkie_, "No I'm not even from here I grew up as an Eskimo on Earth." Ty responded casually and it almost seemed truthful. Salkie nodded like he knew what an Eskimo was and said "Oh alright head up to the boulevard and go to the third barricade and talk to Sargent Kathka he'll tell you when to go in." "I better go find Sargent Kathka then." Shepard said. "Good idea, watch yourself on the boulevard Archangel has killed dozens out there already." Salkie said then walked away.

_This is gonna suck,_ Ty thought. "Getting in isn't going to be a problem but getting out won't be easy." Miranda said. "This sounds like a real blasty blast if you ask me." Ty joked "Lets find him first then we'll worry about getting back." Shepard said. Ty and Miranda followed Shepard towards where ever Kathka was with Ty doing his best to hide his face and tattoo from every Blue Sun he noticed. "I have to ask, why Eskimo?" Shepard asked. Ty laughed out loud gathering some attention to himself but he didn't care because it was funny, "Because we knew each other but he didn't recognize me so I used something I know he wouldn't know…that and it was funny." "You are so childish." Miranda said. "Thank you." Ty said while laughing.

Shepard, Miranda and Ty walked around sabotaging a giant mech and talking to the leaders of the other groups, thankfully no one noticed Ty at all and didn't notice Shepard taking information about the three merc groups teaming up to take down Aria or hacking into rooms where they weren't supposed be. Despite Ty's inner self telling him to gun down the Blue Suns he held back as they walked into the Blue Suns main operations room against Archangel. _Moment of truth, death to all or negotiation,_ Ty thought. "Get this free-lancer outta here; I don't have time for this shit." Tarak said without looking up.

Ty was surprised by the quick negative reaction but that was just Tarak in general when things weren't going his way, "What's your problem?" Shepard asked. "You, get…get this scum out of my face." Ty shook his head as he pulled out both of his pistols and stepped forward and said "Tarak you still have that stick wedged in your ass I see, did Archangel piss in one of your eyes or are you just that excited to see me again?" Everyone in the room froze except Shepard and Miranda who were both slowly getting ready for a fire fight, "Ty?" Tarak asked. "In the flesh asshole." Ty said with a smirk. "What are you waiting for get your guns on them!" Tarak yelled.

Before anyone got their guns out Ty activated a sabotage program that jumped to Jentha first and then scattered quickly through all of the Blue Suns hitting all of their weapons, Ty lifted his pistols up to aim at Jentha and Tarak and said "Your little toys are broken so I'd suggest you don't try it, Tarak you know I have a quicker trigger finger you all will be dead before any of you even get your hands on your guns but if you want to call my bluff go ahead but I'd be ready to embrace death." Tarak looked at his crew and ordered "No one do anything stupid or I'll skin you all alive." Everyone stayed still and Tarak said "Alright Ty you obviously aren't here to kill me or you would've done it already, what do you want and when did you start working for so little?"

Shepard looked at Ty, her look was full of shock but mixed with an impressed but agitated look, the agitation was at the Suns that Ty could tell, "You know this asshole Ty?" Shepard asked. Ty put his guns away and said "We worked together for a few years, since when do you hide like a bitch behind your mercs." Ty asked back at Tarak. Tarak looked really stressed out as he leaned forward on his terminal, "It's Archangel he's trying to kill me, almost did already." Tarak said_. I think I like this Archangel guy more already_, Ty thought. Ty stepped forward and said "Well aint that a shame, alright Tarak I'm not going to kill you as long as you answer my question." "What is it I have shit to do?" Tarak asked.

Tarak knew he was beat, Ty could see the look in his eyes that he was all out of moves right now and that was a look Ty wished he could have savored with him at the end of his barrel. He caused all his pain but he had to negotiate with him for Haley's sake, "You have a friend of mine prisoner, if you tell me where she is and let me take her alive I will solve your Archangel problem…if not I'll pull my guns out and kill you all where you stand." Ty said casually. Tarak smirked, now he had some sort of leverage, or at least Ty was pretty sure that's what he believed though he was far off. "Interesting proposition, alright I'll give you her location but only after you kill Archangel." Tarak said. Ty chuckled and said "Tarak the negotiator, always trying to get the deal in your favor." Ty spied a Blue Sun grabbing for his gun so he pulled out his pistol and shot the guy in the foot, the guy screamed as he fell to the floor, "I warned you asshole." Ty stated. Tarak became enraged as he yelled "I swear if any of you fucking move I will kill you where you stand! Don't even fucking breath!"

Ty and Tarak shook their heads at the merc holding his foot on the floor, the only thing in common Ty and Tarak had was a low tolerance for stupidity, "Anyway where were we, oh right Tarak the negotiator. Tarak you don't realize how this is going to work yet, you can give me her location now and I'll solve your problem or you don't and I will kill you all and find where she is in your servers, think Tarak I can solve this little issue for free just for the girl you kidnapped." Ty said.

Tarak leaned forward on the console and said "Dammit Ty why can't you ever just do as your told, fine she's at the facility we have on the planet Illium but you better take out Archangel otherwise I'll have her killed you understand." Ty nodded and said "As long as you know that if you double cross me again after I'm done with Archangel that I will kill you." Ty pointed at Tarak then moved his finger towards the group of Suns around the guy on the floor "Them, and every other Blue Sun that exists, you will not be able to out run me and you will never be able to hide so keep that in mind Tarak." Tarak nodded and said "You'll get her alive as long as you fulfill your end of the bargain, look Ty I gotta deal with this shit and who knows maybe you'll surprise me and solve my problem for me." Tarak said. "You know that I never break promises." Ty said, _I never promised I wouldn't backstab you asshole, and the very thought of solving your problem sends chills down my spine._

Shepard, Ty, and Miranda walked out, both looked at Ty slightly in awe of what had happened. "Nice negotiating you got him to tell you what you wanted." Miranda said. Ty nodded at the compliment thought he wasn't sure of how truthful Tarak was, "True he did tell me something but his word doesn't mean shit. I gotta look it up after we are done here since there's surly more than one facility on Illium which means I'll owe Aria one." "Is that bad?" Shepard asked. "Depends on who you are, for me it isn't anyone else you bet your ass it's bad." Ty said. "Why not for you?" Miranda asked.

That was about as privileged as information got and Ty wasn't going to spill that story any time soon, "Long story and we gotta get Archangel out, come on lets get going." Ty said. Shepard nodded and led them through the door back into the room that the apartment had eye sight on and bullets flying in both directions. Archangel had done a good job holding out but he had lost his crew to betrayal, something Ty and him shared, and wasn't going to last much longer if they didn't get to him soon. There was a guy taking cover behind a wall so Shepard walked up to him and said "I'm looking for Sargent Kathka." The guy nodded and said "You and me both, he's over there working on the gunship." The man pointed towards the other side of the field which meant a run through all the bullets and continued "Go talk to him if you want I'm in no hurry." The guy said.

Ty looked over and only saw bullets flying towards them, _great I can't even see where the bullets are coming from and we're on this guys side, what is it with me and getting into situations like this all the time._ "Why don't you go get to him?" Shepard asked. The man gave her an angered face and said "Because I'm not stupid, this assault is damned dangerous." Shepard nodded but then a shot blasted her shields though they didn't take them down, _did that asshole just shoot at us, _another shot rang out this time taking Shepard's shields down_, he did! We are here trying to save his ass and he just shot at us! _

Shepard pushed by the guy and they jogged over to the gunship with out any more shots hitting them which Ty was thankful for since he didn't have shields, shields are for pussies, take a round like a man was Ty's saying though he was sure it wasn't something smart to live by but he had done a great job at not getting shot…for the most part. They got to the other side and Shepard looked at the first group of guys and asked "Kathka?" The lead guy pointed behind him and moved out of Shepard's way. Ty and Miranda stayed behind and Shepard started talking to Kathka, Miranda had her hand on her waist while she was waiting for Shepard to finish, Ty was examining the group of people next to him looking at all the free-lancers, _well this'll be a blood bath for them, good thing I'm not this guys enemy despite him shooting at us._ "Check Bravo team go, go, go" Ty heard the Batarian yell.

The people started moving next to Ty, Ty moved out of their way and when they were past him Ty said "They will just make easy targets for this guy." "Better them then us, you ready for this?" Miranda asked. Ty stretched his back and said "Ready as I'll ever be." Rescuing a Turian vigilante from three angry merc groups wasn't something Ty did in his spare time but there was a first time for everything.

Ty and Miranda were then startled by the Batarian screaming, Ty looked and saw Shepard had taken a tool with electricity and stabbed it into the guy electrocuting Kathka to death. Shepard walked out casually and Ty saw the group jump down, "Looks like the legendary Archangel needs some help." Ty said. "Well lets not stand around let's go get him." Miranda said. They all jumped down and the group of people were all sniped by Archangel, Shepard cracked her knuckles and said "Come on lets give these guys a surprise of our own."

Ty pulled out both of his pistols and Miranda pulled her pistol out and followed Shepard who had out a heavy pistol and was leading their charge against everyone. Ty got behind cover and peeked over, he saw a three people just sitting waiting to be killed so he whispered "Shepard I got these guys." Shepard nodded and Ty cloaked, he snuck up behind one and shot his pistol the round piercing through the first guys head his cloak went off and he head shot the second guy and as he was about to kill the third Miranda shot the guy in the head, "Got that one." Miranda said. Ty chuckled and said "Kill stealer."

Miranda rolled her eyes slightly and Shepard yelled "Watch out!" Ty activated his cloaking device then moved out of Shepard's way as he looked at his last position he saw a group of guys all aiming guns at where he was standing but they were all dropped with quick head shots by Miranda and Shepard. Ty un-cloaked and said "Nice save you two." Shepard came up and said "Next time I'll lead since we still have to get to Archangel and ambushes like that aren't going to be very helpful." Shepard said.

True as it was Ty was sure he would have been fine, he might have got grazed but there wasn't much that medi-gel wouldn't fix. Ty and Miranda nodded and followed Shepard up to the stairs to the second floor of the apartment where there were a group of mercenaries trying to break through the door, the three opened fire on the group with Miranda and Shepard tossing a pull at one followed by Miranda warping making it explode out knocking down the remaining mercenaries. Ty killed one of the guys on the ground but the other got on his feet only to be knocked back into the door by a biotic charge from Shepard. "If you two are biotics why did you need me again?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "You're technologic skills and your aim." Miranda responded as if she was reciting something she had for dinner. "Not my charming good looks or winning personality?" Ty asked with a smirk. "Nope that's what I'm here for." Shepard responded.

Ty chuckled as Miranda and him reached Shepard's side and they got ready to breach the room, Shepard looked at the two of them who both gave nods and then she opened the door. Shepard went in first checking her corners with Ty on her left and Miranda on her right both looking around for any one besides the Turian crouching down with his sniper aiming at the area they just came up.

Ty looked the place over, it was probably a nice apartment before all of this had happened, a good base that no one would expect but betrayal always screwed up good bases. "Archangel?" Shepard asked. Ty looked back over to the Turian examining what he looked like, he was in blue armor holding a sniper rifle still looking for targets, he gave Shepard a finger telling her to hold on and then he shot. Ty's hearing picked up on the sound of the round impacted against the targets head so he assumed he killed his target or maybe there was a watermelon that he had missed and the Turian had taken the initiative to destroy it, highly unlikely but still very possible in its own way.

The Turian turned to them and got on his feet which made him taller, despite having a Turian second in command Ty had never gotten used to the height difference Turians had on him, granted Ty was only 5'10 but the fact Turians were all between six foot and seven foot made him feel especially short. Archangel walked towards the wall and took off his helmet then sat down on some crates with his rifle between his legs. Ty's thoughts were interrupted by his voice, "Shepard, I thought you were dead." Archangel said.

Huh? Ty thought. Shepard spread her arms out and returned with in a happy tone "Garrus it's great to see you, what are you doing here?" This left Ty utterly confused but the name sounded so damn familiar, Ty began checking his memory banks for answers. "Keeping my skills sharp, a little target practice but still it is good to see a friendly face; killing mercs is hard work especially on my own." That was a true statement but Ty had worked with his brother and dad most of the time he hunted. "Since when did you start calling yourself Archangel?" Shepard asked. "It's just the name the locals gave me for all my good deeds I don't mind it but please." Garrus cleared his throat, "Its just Garrus to you."

Ty was starting to connect the pieces when he remembered reading about Shepard's old team_, Garrus was on her squad so that explains why they know each other,_ Ty thought. Shepard rolled her shoulders a little and said "You got me good a few times back there." "Concussive rounds nothing you couldn't handle." Garrus responded. "Uh-huh." Shepard said in an unbelieving tone. "If I wanted to take more than your shields down I would have done it." Garrus looked to the side for a second and said "Besides you were taking your sweet time talking to everyone like you used to, I had to get you moving." "Oh so that wasn't Cerberus engineering that made her do that, you see I thought they had programmed her or something to talk to every mercenary here despite having a well known enemy of them with her, but that's all her huh?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "Yep that's Shepard." Garrus said with a grin. "Ha ha ha very funny." Shepard responded in a mock agitated tone.

Garrus smirked a little and nodded at Ty a little in respect, "Nice to meet a fellow pain in the ass for the mercenaries." Garrus said. Ty nodded back as Shepard stepped forward and asked "So how'd you manage to piss off all the major merc groups in the Terminus system?" "It wasn't easy, I really had to work at it, I am amazed that they teamed up to fight me they must really hate me." Garrus said. "Well we got here but getting out won't be as easy." Shepard said. "No it won't but that bridge has saved my life funneling all those witless idiots into my scope, but it works both ways, they'll slaughter us if we try to get out that way." Garrus said. _Yup definitely going to suck,_ Ty thought. "Just waiting doesn't seem like a good option either, any suggestions?" Shepard asked. "This place has held them off so far, but with the three of you I suggest we hold this position until we get a crack in their defenses and take our chances. Its not a perfect plan but it's a plan." Garrus said.

Now that didn't sound like it was going to suck, in fact Ty liked the sound of this plan since it sounded like he would get to do some sniping, "I didn't like sneaking anyway time to spill a little merc blood." Shepard said. "Good to see you haven't changed; let's go see what they are up to." Garrus said as he and Shepard walked forward. Ty decided to make himself comfortable so he sat down on the couch; Miranda on the other hand stood waiting for Shepard and Garrus to finish "Sounds like you'll be sniping from up here while me and Shepard take them on." Miranda said. "Yup I'll cover you two with Garrus, seeing how great he is at being a pain in the ass for these mercs and how good he is at sniping I figure it won't be that difficult." Ty said. Ty heard Garrus's rifle shoot and Shepard's voice "More than scouts, but one less now." Ty sat forward and put his pistols away and then grabbed his rifle off his waist and started checking it over.

He maintained his rifle well so checking it over wasn't really necessary, it was mostly just so he could do something while he waited for Shepard and Garrus to finish talking to one another. He heard footsteps behind him so he turned around to see Shepard and Garrus walking over. _Time to get back to work,_ Ty thought as he stood up, "Ty you're here with Garrus, Miranda with me." Shepard said. "Alright you two stay safe." Ty said. Shepard nodded and said "You to Ty." Ty nodded and walked to the side of Garrus and said "So this will be really interesting, can't wait to see that bastard Tarak die." "So you're Omegas little ghost story and legend. I've heard some crazy stories about you fighting thresher maws and you assassinating ten members of the Suns inside their main base and rescuing hostages without raising an alarm…I did expect someone taller." Garrus said with a toothy grin.

Ty chuckled, the guy had a sense of humor he gave him that, "Yea that all happened though I wasn't alone but you're a legend to Omega now as well so I did expect you to look a little more threatening." Garrus chuckled a little at first but stopped himself and said, "I've learned that being a legend of Omega is a very prestigious title that comes with bullets, nightmares and dead friends." Ty nodded slightly in agreement and said "Seems we both learned that the hard way."

Garrus nodded, Garrus had been fighting these guys for a while so Ty wasn't surprised by the fact he knew his story, hell he wouldn't be surprised if Garrus knew the whole story but if he didn't ask or know Ty wasn't going to tell. Garrus then pointed to Ty's rifle and said "Nice rifle, custom made completely…the look is nice but can you handle it?" "Is that a challenge?" Ty asked. "No I'm just saying that some of us who use snipers can make it dance and I don't think your legend may be fully true." Ty aimed down his sights and killed two of the mechs with one shot than shot three more all within milliseconds of one another decimating all five. "Hmm well I guess that answers my question, alright cover Shepard and the other human I'll focus on the ones shooting at you and me." Garrus said.

_I like this guy already, good sense of humor, might be a challenge when it comes to sniping and someone I might be able to have witty banter with when I'm bored_, Ty thought as he nodded and walked over a little to the edge of the window closer to Shepard and Miranda's position below him. He aimed down his sights again, he saw Shepard and Miranda in cover under fire by some mechs, Ty got the head shot ready and shot, _direct hit_, Ty thought as he watched the mechs head get destroyed. Ty aimed at the next and shot, _direct hit again I rock_, Ty thought laughing to himself since they were just mechs. "Nice job Ty keep it up." Ty heard Shepard's voice in his comm. Ty smiled and continued picking off targets for Shepard and Miranda. Ty saw a mech sneaking up behind them; Ty shot it in the head and said into his comm, "Just saved your ass." "Thanks Ty." Shepard said.

Soon the Eclipse members started coming straight at them, the combined sniping of Garrus and Ty mixed with Miranda and Shepard's biotics and shooting annihilated them all but as Ty picked off another person there was a loud boom that caught his attention, before he could look up Garrus said "Ty get over here we got a giant mech!" Ty chuckled, right the giant mech that they had sabotaged that was going to prove useful "Don't worry about it Garrus we sabotaged it, it'll help us out a little." Ty said. "Oh good idea, shoot some of those Eclipse and give it cover." Garrus said. Ty nodded and aimed down his sights again and started picking them off one by one as the mech unloaded its mini-gun arm and its missiles into them.

The mech lasted a minute or two until some of the Eclipse used their tech attacks to destroy it but the four that were out there didn't last much longer as Ty took aim. He mentally lined up the three Eclipse members with headshots and then took a deep breath; time began to slow down as he shot his first shot, the round pierced through the first's tech armor dropping him where he stood. Ty aimed on the next and pulled the trigger as it pierced through the woman's heart killing her as well; Ty moved to the next and took out the third Eclipse member with a head shot.

The final member a Salarian but as Ty was about to pull the trigger he heard Garrus's sniper shoot, Ty saw the bullet land between his eyes knocking him to the floor, Jaroth had fallen and as Ty expected life continued on happier without that irritating asshole. "Goodbye Jaroth." Garrus said. "Damn I was about to kill him." Ty stated as he looked over to Garrus. "Sorry but I've been hunting him for months, finish off the rest of these Eclipse." Ty nodded and looked back out his window and finished the remaining targets off.

Clean up didn't take much longer and soon Shepard and Miranda were back upstairs while Ty was looking out the window for anymore stragglers, he only faintly heard Garrus and Shepard talking, he was telling her that she did a good job as far as Ty heard but his mind was mostly on what was going on in the minds of all the mercenaries. Mostly Tarak, had he ordered Haley killed yet, did he know Ty was the one out here doing all this? Ty was about to go to his other post when the whole room started to shake, "So that sounded really bad am I the only one who thinks that." Ty said than thought, _whatever the remaining groups plans are it is about to get intense._ Garrus continued to talk to Shepard about where to go next when he heard Shepard's voice aimed at him, "Ty you're with me, Miranda stay here with Garrus, keep him alive." Ty walked back over and Miranda said "Alright Shepard I will." Ty went to Shepard's side, "Thanks Shepard you better get going." Garrus said.

Shepard nodded and motioned Ty to follow her; Ty put his rifle on the back of his waist and pulled out his pistols again knowing that the time for long range was over for now. As they got to the door that led to the basement Ty said "So I just joined up and your bringing down to a basement full of enemies, I hope the traveling locations get better because the brochure didn't mention any of this." "Hey you get free reign to kill all these mercenaries for fun, isn't that what you signed up for aside from me helping you?" Shepard asked. "No I signed up because you all had a lack of fun personalities and I thought my charming demeanor would brighten it up a bit. Garrus is only the second person you have that is fun and I'm the first." Ty said jokingly. "I know how to have fun." Shepard defended. "Bullshit the Alliance has no idea how to have fun." Ty said. "Well she did steal the original Normandy; I thought that was fun if not a little extreme for her." Garrus came over the comm. "Thanks Garrus." Shepard responded. "Traitor." Ty muttered.

Ty and Shepard went in the basement killing all in their way and shutting all the shutters keeping the Bloodpack at bay. While they were in cover getting the last shutter Ty heard Garrus in his headset "They are coming in through the door." _Well that means Garm since I haven't seen his ugly ass yet, shit that is going to suck,_ Ty thought. "Ty we gotta get back and help them." Shepard said to Ty. "Let's do it." Ty said. The shutter closed and Ty and Shepard hurried back to Garrus and Miranda, they got in the room as the people broke through and Garm was dead set on going after Garrus. Shepard killed one of his Vorcha and then Ty cloaked and snuck up behind another and slit its throat with his tomahawk. As the Vorcha realized he was there he shot another in the head with his pistol and aimed at two more and rapidly shot both of them before discharging his thermal clip and cloaking again to head back to Shepard. Ty and Shepard hustled up to the top floor as Garm made his way in that direction but he didn't beat them up there.

Ty and Shepard fell back to the room where t Garrus and Miranda were as more Vorcha came with Garm, "Shepard this guy isn't going to go down easily any ideas?" Ty asked. "Yea keep shooting until he drops." Shepard said. "Is that what they teach you in the Alliance, Miranda create a warp field on this guy." Ty said. "Warp deployed." Miranda said. The warp hit Garm but it just knocked off his footing and took his barrier down slightly and he soon was back to charging them. Ty got out of cover and shot at him a few times only to get pinned down by shotgun fire. Ty hid behind cover as Garm shot at him but suddenly it stopped so he peeked over the couch he was hiding behind and saw Garm's gun charging up but now he was aiming at Miranda who was too busy fighting another Vorcha to notice_, if any one is going to get shot up its me, nobody fucks with any crew I'm apart of._ "Miranda get down!" Ty yelled as he got out of cover.

Miranda shot the Vorcha in the head and turned towards Ty as Garm's gun fired, Ty felt his feet impact on the ground faster and faster as the carnage blast flew at her, in the split second window Ty had he pushed Miranda down out of the way and as he went to take cover himself it hit him. Pain flamed through Ty's right arm as he was sent flying into the wall from the blast; he hit the wall with a loud crack and then fell to the floor with a loud thud. The only thing his mind could comprehend at the moment was the exorbitant amount of pain that was erupting across his right arm until it faded into numbness and his right arm felt suddenly limp.

The only thing Ty could control was his breaths as he tried to get any functionality out of his arm but nothing he did worked, before the numbness hit it felt like all of his nerves were being burned out and for some reason he figured his assessment was probably right judging on the numbness. Shepard and Garrus killed Garm while Ty was on the ground trying to access his damage, he had felt a lot of physical pain in the years as a mercenary and afterwards but the feeling he felt was like what one of his dead friends had described as Thresher Maw acid burning his skin. Mind piercing to the point all you wanted to do was chop your own arm off because of how much pain there was, luckily though it was numb and all he had to do was learn how to work with one arm.

Garrus, Shepard and Miranda came to Ty's aid after the battle with the Bloodpack was over but even then Ty couldn't move his right arm since it took the brunt of it, they sat him up from his laying down position so his back was against the wall and Ty took a look at his arm, his skin was ripped to shreds to the point where he was pretty sure he could see the tissue ripping at different points, if it wasn't for the fact he had seen worse he was sure he would have probably passed out from the sight of it. "Ty are you alright?" Shepard asked.

No he wasn't but despite probably being stuck with just one arm for a few months if it was repairable or his whole life if it wasn't Ty felt invigorated, he could feel something burning inside of him that he hadn't felt in years. He had a purpose now that wasn't just revenge and now he was going to use that to get the hell off of Omega and continue to feel what he was feeling. He felt alive again. "Just dandy, my right arm is useless now but I can still use my left just give me a second to get up." Ty grunted in pain. "You saved my life Ty, why?" Miranda asked. Ty smirked, he understood her surprise, he was almost surprised himself but he was apart of this crew now and that meant something to him. "Because I wanted to lose my arm, Miranda I may hate Cerberus, I hate everything about them really but you, Shepard and whoever else we recruit are my partners, whether or not you are Cerberus or Alliance I don't give a shit anymore we're supposed to be partners that's something I take to heart."

Ty forced himself to his feet and forced his way to the couch as Miranda sat in the chair near him keeping her eyes glued on, Ty didn't know what was left but he had hoped it wasn't going to be to difficult because the state he was in was going to make it hard to fight. "Ty here's some medi-gel." Shepard said. Shepard applied the medi-gel to his arm which had made Ty feel a little better but he still couldn't move his arm, "Are we going yet?" Ty asked. "Are you sure you are okay Ty?" Shepard asked sincerely. "I'm fine, are we going?" Ty asked again.

Shepard stared at him a little longer but Ty's steely gaze didn't waver so she nodded and said "Yea but we're going to be facing Blue Su-" There was a crack of glass that cut off Shepard, Ty hadn't heard the gunship approach but now he was staring right at it, "Shit I thought it wasn't operational, EVERYONE MOVE!" Ty said finding his strength to jump over the couch. The numbness in his arm stopped the pain from landing on the ground from feeling really painful but despite the numbness he did feel the jarring of his shoulder. Ty immediately sat himself up in cover and started blind firing at the ship left handed, "Ty don't waste your ammo we have to kill the Blue Suns." Shepard said.

Ty brought his attention to the Blue Suns who were trying to flank him, Ty shot with his left hand at them taking down shields and even killing a few but just as he was about to take cover again the ship opened fired on his position making him slam himself into the ground to avoid getting shot by the mini-gun. Ty pushed himself up slightly from being face down as the mini-gun stopped, "I know you're there Ty, you've betrayed me for the last time!"

_Betrayed you…I betrayed you!_ Ty's thoughts began running in all directions to find a way to kill him, Ty's anger surged as he yelled "You betrayed me you fucking asshole! You fucking kidnapped my friend, you killed eight of my friends and tried killing me on several occasions and you think I was just going to let you walk away! I did this to find my friend and kill you and your Blue Suns you motherfucking prick." "I'll have her killed after I'm done with you, this will teach you not to fuck with the Blue Suns." Tarak yelled. The mini-gun opened fired on Ty's position again making him duck back to the ground behind the couch which was getting ripped to shreds. There were explosions and then the mini-gun fire stopped tearing apart the couch signaling the disappearance of the gunship.

The gunship had to go but every time it came around it pinned Ty down not allowing him to destroy it, Ty tried thinking of ideas to take it down as he continued shooting the Blue Suns knocking shields down mostly. "Any chance for that sabotage Ty?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled slightly and said "It was experimental technology, my dad said if I used it once it probably wouldn't work again for at least a day if ever again." "And you chose to use it back there?" Shepard asked. "Saved your lives did it not." Ty said.

Before Shepard responded Jentha popped into his view and knocked his pistol out of his hand, before he could react Jentha began punching him in the stomach, after four punches to his gut Ty regained his senses and started fighting back. He pushed her punch away from him using its momentum to get her off balance and lifted his right knee into her gut. It was time for a change in momentum so Ty started punching her with his left hand hitting her in the face several times. Jentha scrambled on the ground after Ty hit her hard enough in the face to send her sprawling but as she got up Ty went to punch her again but this time Jentha caught his hand then lifted her elbow into his jaw making him lose his footing.

Out of all the bad moves Ty had ever done, this one was near the top because of the chain of events that followed. Jentha followed him and kicked him in the gut which felt like someone had stuck a machete through his gut because of the bruising from the crack against the floor after Garm's carnage blast. Mind splitting pain flooded Ty's mind as he fell to his knees, he was losing a fist fight to someone he should have wiped the floor with and that didn't make him feel much better as Jentha walked over to him. Ty went to punch her from his knees only for her to deflect it and knee him in the face. As Ty began to fall back his vision got blurry but Jentha grabbed the hilt of his tomahawk and pulled him back towards her.

As he moved forward she pulled his tomahawk off his back and said "Say goodbye Ty." Ty looked up as she swung down, _well this is it_, Ty thought. A blur of motion caught Ty's eye before Shepard came out of a biotic charge and tackled Jentha, "No you don't!" Shepard yelled. As she tackled Jentha to the ground Ty's tomahawk missed the direct hit but instead sliced Ty down his left cheek making him fall to the ground holding his face. "Motherfucker!" Ty yelled as he grabbed his face.

Blood flowed onto Ty's left hand as he held his face and watched Shepard wrestling with Jentha trying to keep the tomahawk away from her and kill her at the same time. Shepard grabbed Jentha's right hand that held the tomahawk and punched her in the face while twisting the tomahawk towards Jentha until it was facing her. Shepard's body glowed with biotic energy as she forced the tomahawk down into Jentha's face forcefully wedging it between her eyes. Shepard pulled it back out and got herself up and headed in Ty's direction.

Ty let go of his face leaving a bloody hand print on his face as he tried to push himself up and get out of the open back into cover but his strength had dwindled and the screeching pain all across his body was winning out. Shepard knelt down and started helping Ty up off the ground, "Come on Ty your gonna be alright." Shepard said. He doubted it, at the rate his luck was downward spiraling he knew shit was about to hit the fan and there would be no way to step to the side of the fan when it did, it just was how his luck was looking. Shepard got him on his feet with his left arm wrapped around the back of her neck and started moving quickly to cover but before Ty could give a witty remark about her helping him they both heard a sentence that would haunt them both for a very long time. "SHEPARD, TY GET DOWN HE FIRED A MISSLE!" Miranda yelled.

Time seemed to slow down for Ty as he saw the missile flying straight for him and Shepard, fuck, fuck, fuck, Ty thought. Ty looked around Shepard at his bloody hand and felt his pulse quicken making his thoughts run faster than normal. Ty pushed Shepard away as hard as he could with his left hand down to the ground behind a low wall of cover and pulled his other pistol out, everything seemed slower and Ty's gaze set on the missile as it was flying at him. He aimed his sights at the missile getting it lined up perfectly.

Shepard had barely enough time to look at Ty as she hit the ground behind the wall, she saw him at the last second point his pistol at the missile and fire off five rounds. "Ty no!" Shepard screamed as the rounds left the gun. As Ty stared at the missile he saw it explode out in all directions ten feet away from him but it was followed by the shockwave of the explosion that sent him flying backwards.

The weightlessness was ended abruptly as he hit a wall behind him and felt a sharp point pierce through the upper part of his back on his right side, the pain that shot through his body rendered him unconscious. His body fell limp but stayed upright being impaled on a five inch long spike that had a two inch diameter that was sticking out of the wall he landed against; as his body fell unconscious he heard another explosion and Tarak yelling. This was his end, not the end he expected but the end he was given and despite the invigorating feeling he had before, the feeling of being alive once again, this death felt right. _This is finally it huh guys, see you soon,_ Ty thought.

* * *

The mission was disastrous, Ty was impaled on a spike and hadn't moved since he was impaled and Garrus got blown to hell but Shepard knew that if they were both alive that she needed to get them both out of there fast. "Miranda lets get Ty off of that spike and see if he's still alive." Shepard said as she motioned Miranda to follow. Miranda nodded as she put her pistol away and walked with Shepard over to Ty's limp body, if there was one word that could describe how Ty looked it would be the word death. From his face to his blood soaked back and ripped up arm he looked like if he was alive that he'd need another Lazarus project to bring him back, Shepard checked him for a pulse.

There was nothing for a second, _god damn it he's gone, I told myself I would never lose another squad member after Virmire but I failed him._ Shepard lowered her head slightly feeling a pang of guilt for losing yet another squad member, he might have been a sarcastic asshole but he was on her squad and that meant she had to look out for him. _He should have just got down in cover instead of shooting the missile, _Shepard thought.

As she was about to pull away she felt a sudden thump, than another, and another getting stronger and stronger with each thump, Shepard's head flung back up to look at him, "Holy shit he's still alive! Miranda we have to get him off of that, brace him when we get him off." Shepard ordered._ Come on you son of murderer hold_ _on._ Miranda went to his other side and Shepard said "On three, one, two, three."

* * *

A jolt of pain surged through Ty's unconscious body awakening him as he felt himself being gently pulled off the spike, his body felt heavy but there was a sudden numbing to it all though it didn't stop the severe pain Ty was feeling. Everything was blurry no doubt because of blood loss but he heard Shepard's voice, "Ty we are getting you out of here just stay alive." Just stay alive, like it was a choice that was to be made. Maybe it was, maybe he chose that as his moment, maybe all the pain and suffering he had felt finally just won out and he chose this moment as his moment to die.

If this was his moment he was at least going to do whatever he could to help before he was finished. Ty gained enough sense to see that Miranda had his weight as she escorted him with Shepard to Garrus, no way was he being helped off Omega he would limp out himself or die trying. Ty looked in himself for his dwindling strength and started to get his legs working, "I'm…walking out of here." Ty grunted as he put weight on his legs and started limping without help.

The amount of crimson blood that covered Ty's body made him realize how short of time he really had, he couldn't last long without real medical attention, maybe it was for the best if he didn't make it he wasn't sure anymore if that sudden feeling of invigoration would be worth feeling again if it was going to be taken away from him in the future yet again. The hurting highway was a one way street full of pot holes and he had enough of falling in them.

Miranda was at Ty's side again trying to help him but he kept limping while stopping her from helping, "Ty you've taken to much damage let us get you out of here." Miranda said. "I'm fine...come on lets get out of here." Ty said. Shepard stopped going towards Garrus and stepped in front of Ty and said in what he could have sworn was a caring tone but loss of blood could easily be the blame "Ty you're lucky to be alive right now let us help get you out of here so you can survive." Her tone and the look she had given him teased Ty's mind for a second reminding him of his old lover but the thought didn't last long since the pain he felt wasn't like anything he had felt recently, "I'm fine girls trust me." Ty lied. Shepard stared at him for a few more seconds reading his face, it was his best poker face he could put on with so much damage but she took it and nodded thinking he was telling the truth as she said "Garrus is dying I may need help getting him to the Normandy." Shepard said.

Ty walked with them and felt all the pain in his body but ignored it feeling purpose in saving Garrus from death verses himself. Ty's right arm had been burned badly and most of the middle of his tank top was burnt as well but luckily there were no holes from Garm's carnage. He was covered in his own blood but he relied on his remaining strength and adrenaline to help, it was all dwindling fast though with black blots popping up in his vision every few seconds. If he did make it, it would be a miracle at this point but Ty pushed on limping slowly with Shepard and Miranda catching him when he'd trip, they'd tell him to let them help but he'd keep going.

Shepard knelt down and used her medi-gel on Garrus trying to keep him alive when Garrus's eyes flung open, he began breathing fast though that was understandable for the situation he was in. "Garrus! Hold on we're getting you out of here." Shepard said in an extremely worried voice. "Shepard if we don't get him help now he's gonna die." Ty said but than his left leg gave out and he fell down to his left knee. Ty coughed and could feel the blood filling in his mouth, his right lung started to feel like someone was pouring concrete into it but he wasn't going to go down…not yet.

Miranda went to Ty's side and helped him up and said "You're not in good condition either, let me help Ty." "I'm fine…just a sharp pain lets get him outta here, I'll be fine." Ty grunted as he pushed himself back up. Stubbornness like a bull was an understatement when it came to Ty and he was proving that to himself at the moment as he helped Shepard get Garrus up. As Ty took his weight on his shoulder he began to remember how much he hated caring Turians and Krogan, they were both so heavy and he had done it way to many times when his crew got drunk years ago.

They walked down the stairs with Ty focusing on each step to make sure all three of them didn't take a tumble, each step became a mile and each breath felt excruciatingly painful but Ty did his best to ignore the pain. His breaths were getting sharper and Shepard had even begun to take notice to the weirdness of his breathing by looking around Garrus at him. Ignoring the look Ty noticed that a white shuttle with a Cerberus insignia was parked on the bridge, _must have called evac while I was unconscious, _Ty thought. They finally reached the shuttle and got Garrus up and into it and laid him down on a seat.

Ty felt his body giving out, it was almost his time it seemed, black circles filled his field of vision as he tripped backwards into the other seat. He felt the need to put "Coughs up blood" on his resume suddenly since he began to cough up blood once again. The feeling in his lung was killing him, literally, Ty could read signs right and he knew that in this moment he was choosing to put his tomahawks up and finally just give into death; he had earned a little peace he felt. "I'm sorry girls I aint making it, make sure you stop those bastards from destroying the universe, give 'em hell for me." Miranda hurried into the cockpit as Shepard rushed to Ty's side and began to apply medi-gel to his wounds, "No you're gonna make it Ty stay with me, Miranda we gotta get them out of here." Shepard said.

The shuttle started going with Miranda in the pilot seat as Shepard sat at Ty's side trying to keep him from falling over but he was fading and he was fading fast. A sense of irony hit Ty and he began laughing until he began coughing up blood again, "Who'd figure I'd die with the Alliances best commander and a Cerberus operative after everything I've gone through." Ty coughed up blood and laughed again "Fucking ironic, even in death I see the funny side."

He had hated the Alliance and Cerberus with all his energy for so long and then he ended up fighting and getting himself killed for them, now that was something he knew his friends were laughing about because he was trying to laugh but the coughing fit came back. "You're not going to die and there isn't any thing funny about this." Shepard said.

Maybe not to her but he sure did think it was but Ty also understood where she was coming from, she had lost her squad on Akuze and then lost that Ashley girl on Virmire according to what he read. Now she was losing him, or at least that's how Ty figured she saw it, Ty rested his hand on hers as he said "It's alright Shepard I've been ready for this for a long time, I've got friends waiting for me. Do me a favor and don't blame yourself or mourn for me." Ty said than started coughing up blood. Ty's hearing started to fade as Shepard said "I'm no…ving up…stay with me." A sudden shock hit Ty and with every breath he became excruciatingly aware of how painful his death would be, Ty tried to get out what he felt in-between painful breaths "Lung…collapsed…put me…out of…Misery." "Miranda!" Shepard yelled. "I heard HOLD ON!" Miranda yelled back as the shuttle lurched forward even faster.

Shepard went in front of Ty as he was desperately grabbing for his pistol, he needed to just end it, there wasn't any nice way to go but there were really shitty ways to go, and this was on the top of his list right now. Ty got the pistol in his hand but then Shepard grabbed it from him before he could just put himself out of his misery. Ty wasn't having any of that so he grabbed her hands forcefully and pushed the gun barrel against his heart and said "Shepard…do it…now." Shepard seemed awestruck at the proposition, "Ty no I can-" Ty's voice came out very hoarse and blood dripped from his mouth as he said "Do it…end…suffering."

The pain was excruciating, this wasn't anyway for someone to go Ty had always put his enemies out of their misery long before this point of pain but Shepard wouldn't grant him his wish for an easy death, wasn't he an enemy to her or did she believe he deserved a harsh death. Maybe he did deserve it but he would rather go out being shot in the heart than this.

He couldn't survive on one lung filled with blood for much longer and each breath sent more pain than humanely possible to stand, Ty started bobbing back and forth trying to keep his grip on the pistol and not to succumb to this death, "Please." Ty said as his grip loosened and Shepard pulled the pistol away, "Come on Ty stay wi …epherd we can't lose hi…Ty don't do this…." Miranda and Shepard's voices were distant but Ty heard them as he fell down to his side seeing Garrus's body. He coughed up blood and as he was about to black out he said "Look…for…my friend…please…ask Aria…sa- save Garrus an- and forget me…Good luck Shepard thank y…" Ty didn't finish he blacked out and fell into the abyss.

**A/N: And thus ends the tragic life of Ty it seems he missed a paragon or renegade interrupt that lead him to where he was in the prologue…Or did he? For those reading this my schedule will probably get screwy but I will try to keep up the Monday through Friday thing I had going despite the delay of this chapter, any way as you were, I will see you next time.**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Reawakening

**Disclaimer/A/N: As usual I don't own anything Mass Effect, Bioware/E/A does I just stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe, now on to the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Shepard stared at Ty's body as the shuttle flew not wanting to believe what had just transpired actually happened, Miranda landed the shuttle inside the Normandy's docking hanger and looked back at them in hope but when she laid eyes on the scene her eyes dropped as she said "Shit." Shepard couldn't respond she looked down at the pistol in her hand and couldn't shake the desperate look in Ty's face as he begged her to end his suffering…and she didn't end it. "Shepard we have to get them up to the med-bay, Garrus needs medical attention right now and if Ty is…salvageable we need to go now." _Salvageable_, the word didn't strike Shepard well but she was salvageable wasn't she and now here she was leading a mission.

Maybe it was possible to bring him back and if it was Shepard had to act now, she put the pistol back into his holster and stood up straight, "Get EDI to get Mordin and Jacob down here and have Doctor Chakwas get ready." Shepard ordered to Miranda. Miranda nodded quickly and opened up the shuttle before hopping out to talk to EDI, _we can save him and Miranda might be able to use some cybernetics if we need them._

It took the elevator some time to reach them but when it finally did Jacob and Mordin came out just in time to help Shepard support Garrus's weight and help Miranda with Ty's. They got both battered and broken recruits into the elevator and Shepard pressed the Crew Quarters button, Shepard looked over to Miranda, Ty and Jacob to look at the wounded if not dead warrior. "What the hell happened to him?" Jacob asked as she saw Shepard look over. "Took a carnage blast to his right side then got blasted by a missile into a spike on a wall of the apartment we were in." Shepard responded. "Death could prove problematic, family would seek revenge against Cerberus or us, hinder mission. Better alive than dead, use skills to help him best I can." Mordin said.

Mordin was right, if Ty's code that Aria spoke of revolved around family then there wasn't a doubt in Shepard's mind that his family felt the same and that meant if he did die, they were going to be on the top of their chopping block list and that wouldn't be good. "Yeah I don't fashion being put on the Rhoddy hit list, no one who has ever been put on it has survived." Jacob said. "I don't know if they have an actual list of targets or not but you can be damned sure if he dies we are all next." Shepard stated. The elevator doors opened letting them to proceed quickly to the Med-bay.

Garrus was heavy but he was a damned good friend that Shepard wasn't going to let die and if that meant she would have to carry him for miles she would. Shepard looked up to Garrus as they continued moving only to look away quickly, he looked like hell and there was nothing a grunt like her could do except sit back and hope that everything would be okay. _Come on Garrus just hold on, you've got to hold on_, Shepard thought as they walked through the med-bay doors.

Chakwas was ready for them and looked to have a few assistants with her, "Put Garrus on the bed over there." Chakwas pointed to the bed closest to Shepard and Mordin allowing them to get the weight off of their shoulders quicker, Shepard looked over to Jacob and Miranda who were putting Ty on a bed across from Garrus, if Garrus was hell than Ty was a whole another level of hell, probably the deepest level. His tank top was completely soaked in blood and there was a hole in his back the same size as the spike he had been impaled on his face was bleeding from the tomahawk slicing his face and those were just the superficial wounds.

Doctor Chakwas came over quickly and started scanning both Garrus and Ty. "Miranda, Mordin I'm going to need your help." Chakwas looked over to Shepard who had removed herself from the table area so she was closer to the door and out of the way, "Shepard before I even commit supplies to this you do realize who that young man is right?" A heartless killer, a former mercenary, most wanted criminal with no morals, was any of that even true? They got off on the wrong foot sure but the Ty that she had seen on the mission and what he did for her and Miranda didn't come close to what she had been told. Shepard nodded and said "Yea the only reason why me and Miranda aren't where they are." "You don't owe him anything Commander if that's your reasoning in this." Chakwas said colder than she had ever said anything.

Shepard didn't doubt Chakwas having some history with at least one of his family members but it was just possible she was going off the same things Shepard was. Everything they knew about him was he had left people to die, killed civilians if they got in his way and had murdered so many innocents the ground that surrounded him was red. That's what they knew…but this guy wasn't him Shepard knew that much, this guy saved her and Miranda and did it all in the name of being apart of the crew.

He chose to do what he did for people he probably didn't even like, the man of propaganda she knew wouldn't have done that. "It's not why I'm doing this, I don't even know if he can comeback and if he does if he'll still have any uses but…just try and save him he thought his lung was collapsed and I'm not doubting the possibility which means he needs help right now…Get him stable enough so the machines have him safe and then work on Garrus so he's alright, just get him stable." _It's what he wanted_, Shepard thought. "I just hope he's grateful." Chakwas said as she started working on Ty with Miranda and Mordin as the assistants began doing what they could for Garrus.

Shepard and Jacob left the Med-bay giving the doctors room to work and as they approached the elevator Jacob looked to Shepard and asked "So you think that he will make it?" "Garrus or Ty?" Shepard asked. "I guess either." Jacob said. Shepard lowered her head slightly as she said "I-…I don't know they both took a hell of a beating before going down." Shepard said. "So he really saved you and Miranda?" Jacob asked.

Shepard's gut twisted as she remembered seeing him run quicker than anyone she had ever seen over to Miranda to push her down out of the way and then seeing his arm get burned all to hell by the blast as it launched him into the wall, and then she remembered looking up at him as he aimed with such precision at the missile. Blood dripping off of his face as he fired off rounds at it and then the explosion that sent him flying out of her sight. "Yea…he did. Surprising as hell after our initial meeting but he still got blasted to shit…for us." Shepard said. The elevator opened and they both walked in, Jacob hit CIC and Shepard pressed her quarters, the elevator ride was quiet and slow but when the doors opened at CIC Jacob said "You still think the stories are true about him." Shepard didn't answer right away not sure if she believed what her first answer was going to be, it seemed her silence answered his question because Jacob chuckled a little and said "Yea me neither, see ya around Shepard."

Shepard let the doors close as she stared at the ground, when they closed fully she let herself slide down to the floor. Her heart ached seeing Garrus in the state he was in and even seeing Ty the way he was, she promised herself after losing Ashley that she'd never allow this to happen again and yet here she was either about to lose one of her best friends and a guy who had risked his life for her. She ran over the whole mission in her head from start to finish trying to figure out if she could've done it differently and spared Garrus from the missile he took or from Ty getting blasted all to hell.

There was no easy answer and despite hindsight being in 20/20 nothing stood out that told her what she could've done better. There was no way to get his pleading eyes out of her head, _do it end suffering,_ his words echoed through her mind but she just let him suffer possibly one of the most horrific deaths possible. The doors opened bringing Shepard out of her thoughts; she pushed herself off the floor and walked out and into her oversized quarters where she was met by a soothing tune that was playing from the music player.

Shepard walked past her desk as she started taking off her armor piece by piece letting it fall where ever it fell each letting off a thud as they hit the ground. It was hard to call the mission a success, not only did her friend who had her back while fighting Saren get severely wounded but a man who she at first thought was a ill tempered asshole put himself in front of two death sentences and looked like he got hit by a Reaper beam.

He risked his own life to save hers and he barely knew her, probably didn't like her and pointed a gun at her head but he saved her and nearly got killed in the process and then looked to her to put him out of his pain but she didn't, she let him suffer. The strict Alliance in her that still slightly believed what the propaganda said told her that it was what he deserved but the person in her told her that no one, not even someone of his young legend should go through that. Was he really what they said he was though, the Tyler Rhoddy she knew about wouldn't do that just out of the sake of being 'partners' he would've let them both get blown to hell, or would've shot her instead of pointing the gun at her.

He even tried thanking her, was it a sincere thank you or a last pledge of being an asshole by making her feel bad, what did he have to thank her for anyway. Shepard took off her chest plate which was her last piece of armor on and let it fall to the ground with a thud, she stood in her casual clothing, a black pair of jeans that she could do anything in and her blue wife beater, as she thought of ways to help Ty. Maybe Miranda could use something like she used to bring her back or maybe they could fix his lung and arm without anything if he wasn't already dead. She didn't know what was possible and what Cerberus would do to help but she'd see how far she could push Cerberus to get what she wanted, someone like Ty didn't do or say things without damn good reasons and she wanted to question him which would require him to be saved.

Shepard let herself fall onto her back on the bed, the bed was nice right now, a nice comfort…but it didn't help her loneliness she had. The room was a great reminder of how alone she felt without her friends to back her up. She missed her original squad and everyone from the original Normandy team and this ridiculously over sized cabin didn't help. She needed another being to share it with, even if it wasn't a human, maybe a hamster or fish for the huge tank she had, or maybe she'd find Kaiden and get him to join her like old times if he was still interested. Shepard covered her eyes with her forearm and let out a slight irritated groan to herself, that was a whole line of thought she didn't want to think about. Would he even be the same, everyone had changed in two years except her; she was still in the past.

When she closed her eyes she didn't feel like she was thirty one on a new ship with new crew members, she felt like she was twenty nine still about to wake up on the original Normandy next to Kaiden after a long day of hunting hold outs. But then like everything else she would open her eyes and it was two years past that and none of her friends were around anymore, well exception of Garrus now. Shepard worked her way up to the pillows she had and rested on her right side, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep…but the eyes and words of an almost dead Alliance criminal followed her into sleep.

* * *

It didn't take long for Garrus to get up and going, he was bandaged up but he was still Garrus and that made Shepard happy. She missed him but she was happy he wasn't the rash hot head anymore but he still had his anger but it had turned to action while she was gone, in the words of her pilot _"he worked that stick out of his butt but was now running around beating the crap out of people with it."_ It was great having him back though, Garrus was a great friend and the fact that he was standing by her once again watching her back while they walked into hell was comforting.

Despite the great news with Garrus Ty had little progress, the machines kept his body alive but the damage he had sustained was what kept him from bouncing back at all. His right side had taken most of the damage from both the carnage blast and the missile and spike. From what the doctors told her she figured out that his right lung was screwed beyond use and so was his right arm, all his ribs except the bottom two on his right side were broken and his loss of blood wasn't garnering any faith.

Maybe he wasn't going to bounce back but Shepard held faith for him, he was still alive when anyone else with his wounds would have died so Shepard ordered Miranda and Chakwas to bring him back at all costs. As easy as it was to order it, it took some convincing with both Miranda and the Illusive Man with Miranda not sure if he was going to get him to functionality and the Illusive Man trying to get his hands on the body to use for research purposes.

Shepard nearly ripped his head off through the message he sent her for offering a hefty amount of credits to use Ty's body for research purposes, it was similar to the feeling she had with that Mr. Bosker guy who was holding Samesh Bhatia's wife for the same damn thing_. Save more lives in death than life my ass_, Shepard thought_, if he doesn't pull through I'm giving his body back to his family no matter the consequence._

The nerve of the Illusive Man to say he was looking out for humanity by doing crap like that, it set a fire under Shepard making her hate that she was working with him. Shepard questioned Miranda on how she could stand up for a man like him but it was the same old speech of, _"Looking out for the best interests of humanity"_ and _"Some hard choices have to be made."_ Yeah hard choices had to be made but how much humanity could you give up for those choices.

Despite having to convince them both to do it Miranda eventually took what she had done to Garrus and Shepard and applied it to Ty with what she could, she used cybernetics to get his lung working again and used cybernetics from his arm up to his neck to get it working again as well with it all under his skin but with the consequence of having a few scars and losing his tattoos. The carnage blast destroyed his skin and the skin grafting got it to look slightly normal but the scars were still visible.

A week and a half after Ty got taken out and put on the operating table Shepard met with Chakwas Jacob and Miranda in the med bay to get an update on Ty's condition. Shepard had been exploring and probing planets for the week and a half getting a lot of minerals and doing a mission designated as Firewalker which gave her control of the M-44 Hammerhead. Compared to the M-35 Mako she had more fun with the Hammerhead than the Mako, though the armor could use some work.

On the other side of things Ty felt like he was in an ongoing nightmare, he thought his pain would end in death but it continued constant poking and prodding at his injuries like it was some form of torture for everything he had done. He then heard people talking, "He's going to be alright Shepard, he's been through hell and will have some scars but it'll be best." Jacob said. "Thanks Jacob, how long till he's up and moving?" Shepard asked. "Not long but he may have mental scaring because of the trauma he experienced." Jacob said. "Trauma is the nice way of putting it I'd say he has experienced worse than trauma." Miranda said. "Miss Lawson has a point and with the cybernetics it may be hard for him…" The heart beat monitor started beating faster and as Chakwas walked to the machine she said "What's with that machine going off?" Chakwas asked walking to the machine.

Ty's eyes opened and he saw blurry figures surrounding him, his chest was throbbing and he couldn't remember what had happened and why he was wherever he was. Taraks voice suddenly was in Ty's head, _"I'll have her killed after I'm done with you this will teach you not to fuck with the Blue Suns."_ Ty remembered the gunship and fighting the Suns by himself, then Jentha flashed into his vision _"Say goodbye Ty."_ She swung down at him but then everything went black. _Shit I got captured by Suns the fuck heads,_ Ty thought.

Shepard saw Ty's open and it was like déjà vu for her remembering what she had gone through "Shit not this again, Chakwas he's reacting to outside stimuli give him the sedative." Miranda ordered. Before Chakwas could Ty's right foot went flying from its stationary position into Dr. Chakwas's stomach sending her flying back, oh shit, Shepard thought. "Jacob, Shepard pin him down." Miranda said as she grabbed a needle.

Jacob and Shepard moved quickly to pin him down but as they did Ty sat up quickly and grabbed Jacob by his shirt and punched him hard in the face and then sent him flying backwards with a huge kick. Ty pulled off the wires on him and stumbled onto his feet shoulder barging into Miranda knocking her onto the floor, _wow he just took out everyone except me and he's drugged up, nice,_ Shepard thought. "Fucking Suns always trying to do stupid shit." Ty said as he stumbled trying to get his footing until he got to the desk that Dr. Chakwas used.

_Suns? He doesn't remember what happened_, Shepard thought. Shepard walked cautiously towards him as she said "Ty your safe calm down we're trying to help you." Ty had all his weight leaning forward on the table but Shepard knew he could easily get the jump on her. "Fucking drugged me and you're telling me I'm safe." Ty said.

* * *

Ty knew the voice talking to him but he couldn't remember who it was or who it belonged to but he was drugged so he didn't believe he was safe. He could barely feel his limbs and his right arm was searing with pain like someone was using a flamethrower to just burn his arm over and over again. He couldn't remember, he went to Omega to meet Jessica, left, went to Freedoms Progress and saw Tali, left and went back to Omega, confronted Tarak somehow and ended up knocked out during a fight. He started getting angry, he could see his own past events and any other past event but couldn't remember where or how he ended up wherever he was. His vision was still blurry but he could hear the voices talking behind him but he didn't care he was trying to remember, he was shirtless but had something around his right arm that felt like fabric.

He had his clam diggers on but he was barefoot, his guns were missing and he was in a room of hostiles that would try to attack him any second now, "I can't remember." Ty stated finally. "What do you remember?" The familiar voice asked. "Fighting the Suns, Tarak in a gunship, Jentha knocking me out or something like that." "Ty do you remember who you fought along side with?" The familiar voice asked.

Ty tried to remember he forced all his focus to the fight trying to see his past or just remember, blurry figures popped in Ty's head, one was a Turian he knew for sure based on the blurry shape of its head, the blur looked like someone poured grease into his memory banks but he saw markings that looked familiar and he could remember his friend Darian but it wasn't him. Garkus, Tarrus, Garrus. "A Turian I think named Garrus." Ty said. "Anyone else?" The voice asked. Ty thought hard, he saw two figures both feminine but that's all he could remember, "Two women but I can't remember their names or what they looked like."

* * *

"Why can't he remember us Miranda?" Shepard asked worry in her tone. This was bad, no this was worse than that if he couldn't remember they'd soon be in for a fight against a very drugged Ty who obviously could fight very well while drugged. "All the drugs pumped into him are making it hard for him to remember, trust me his memories are still there. We need to get him back on the table he isn't ready to be walking around let alone fighting." Miranda said.

Jacob and Chakwas were off the floor but staying back at Shepard's order, she had the needle in her hand as she questioned Ty trying to get him to remember but Miranda was right they needed him back under the anesthetic so he could heal properly. Shepard took cautious steps forward but when she got next to him she was surprised that he didn't strike her, she knew that there was going to be backlash for what she going to do but there was no other way.

She got the needle close to his arm and then inserted it quickly and plunged half of the medication in it into him, half was apparently enough to topple a Krogan from what she was told but apparently that wasn't enough since Ty spun around and put his hand around her throat and lifted her off her feet. His eyes were completely purple and his face showed how pissed he was with his eyebrows arched down and his jaw clenched tight as he stared a hole through her, the needle was still sticking out of his left arm as she swung her legs, "Shepard!" Chakwas yelped.

Shepard waved her hand back at them and her voice was strained as she said "Stay back I'll be fine." Shepard could easily have kicked him below the belt to get him to let go but she instead reached out to him with her voice "Ty it's me Shepard, I'm trying to help you." "Help me by stabbing me with a needle, sounds like bullshit." Ty said. "Ty you got hit by a carnage blast and you were impaled on a spike during the fight, you woke up and helped me get Garrus back then you passed out in the cab, you need to remember." Shepard said.

She just needed his grip to loosen a little then she would be able to inject the rest of the medication that would knock him out…probably. "Shepard?" Ty asked himself trying to remember. His grip loosened and Shepard jammed the remaining medication into his arm, before he could react his grip loosened more and let Shepard fall to the floor as he stumbled backwards onto the table and then to the floor.

Shepard coughed a little as Chakwas helped her up, "You okay dear?" Chakwas asked. "He's stronger than he looks." Shepard said with a smile and a cough. "I think all of us can testify to that." Chakwas said with a smile. Miranda and Jacob got Ty back onto the bed and all hooked up back to the machines which took about a minute while Chakwas checked everyone including herself for injuries, after Chakwas and Miranda finished checking everyone and hooking Ty up Miranda said "He's going to need more treatment now, he shouldn't have woken up so early." "Alright continue work on him." Shepard said. "Tough son of a bitch." Jacob said. Shepard smirked and said "Come on Jacob we should get out of their hair, get EDI to get us if you two need help." "We will Shepard." Chakwas said.

The day after Ty woke up early Shepard had gone out to recruit Jack with Jacob and Garrus, Ty was stabilized and was assumed to wake up soon but no exact day was known. Shepard checked in periodically hoping that he would wake up while she was there so they could talk, she worried a lot about him now but he was apart of her crew so it was only natural for her to feel worried. Even with his condition getting better each day there was no exact day known for him to awake, it all depended on his body and how it recovered and adapted to the cybernetics that Miranda had used.

In a way it made Shepard feel a little better knowing she wasn't the only one walking around with cybernetics in her but in no way did she think he'd be happy to know Miranda had cut open his body and worked inside of it. He'd probably assume there was a tracking device or brain chip in him, he would have been right if Shepard hadn't warned Miranda and the Illusive Man against it, who knew "Do you really want the Rhoddy family hunting you down?"would have gotten both to forget about it. Shepard had wished for him to wake up when she was around but he never awoke on her watch.

* * *

Beep, beep, beep, beep, Ty heard the sound of the EKG machine beeping at a slow steady pace, Ty opened his eyes and looked around as he was trying to figure out if he was dead and the spirit realm had a pager that was going off or if he had really been saved. He couldn't really correlate that much but he remembered the fight with Shepard, Garrus and Miranda and getting impaled and dying. He also remembered waking up and not having any clue of what was going on, he'd have to apologize to Shepard and whoever else he hurt…if he was indeed alive.

Ty heard humming in the distance and saw a gray haired older woman walking about and figured he had been saved, that or the spirits thought that having a older greeter would get them more fans. Ty tried sitting up but pain went all over his body which told him that he was alive and the spirits had a funny sense of humor with this last adventure.

Ty grunted slightly in pain which got the doctors attention, "Oh no, no, no you can't get up yet you are still recovering Ty." Ty looked at her strangely confused that she knew his name but he didn't know her, "Do I know you?" Ty asked. "No I'm Dr. Chakwas and I've been assigned to watch over your recovery with Miss Lawson." Chakwas said. "Who?" Ty asked again. "I'm sorry Miranda is Miss Lawson, you've been out for a week and a half." Chakwas said.

Ty's jaw nearly dropped off as he heard the time and he said "A week and a half! Holy shit, has Shepard recruited anyone new or tried going to find my friend." "Yes and no she recruited a woman named Jack and she has not gone to look for your friend." Chakwas said. Chakwas began to walk away as she continued "I'll go inform Shepard that you are awake, but don't try to move your injuries are severe."

There was no way he was going to sit on a bed any longer, he lost a week and a half of time because of his injuries, he wasn't about to lose more. Ty shook his head and said "I gotta get up doc trust me I'll be fine." "You are as stubborn as a mule, try and move slowly you've had a lot of changes to your body." Chakwas said. _Changes? Grrreeeaattt,_ Ty thought. "I don't even want to know right now what is different, where's Shepard?" Ty asked. "In the Comm room talking with Miranda and Jacob, the Comm is up a floor and can be accessed by going through the Tech lab or Armory. Here is your tank top and your weapons are on the desk. I was able to patch up the hole that was in the back of your shirt along with the hole in your back." Chakwas said with a cheeky smirk as she brought Ty his shirt.

Ty smirked slightly and took it but stopped as he asked "Were you one of the people I hit?" Ty asked. "You kicked me but you needn't worry yourself about it, you were on enough drugs to topple a Krogan so you need not apologize." Chakwas said. "Sorry anyway I didn't mean to hurt you I thought I was captured by Suns." Chakwas nodded said "Its fine."

Ty put his burnt tank top on and put the hood up, the fabric felt rougher but not to the point of uncomfortableness. Chakwas went to her desk and sat down as Ty got off the bed and started getting all his weapons on. He put his tomahawks on last and started walking to the elevator and as he did he saw some surprised looks from the Cerberus crew as he walked into the elevator and kind of smiled because of it, "Tyler Rhoddy has died many times" was a saying among the people of Omega though Ty was sure these people were unaware of the saying and how true it was. The elevator brought him up to CIC slowly reminding him of the Citadel elevators he avoided it all costs, walking or transportation cabs were so much quicker than those damn things.

Ty walked out as the doors opened and started walking to the Comm room passing Kelly who was shocked to see Ty walking and alive, Ty cut through the Tech Lab and nodded at Mordin who nodded with a smirk and kept working, he walked through the next set of doors to the Comm room doors. Ty pressed the green hologram which opened the doors allowing him to walk in to where Shepard, Jacob and Miranda were all talking. "Alright so girls and guy what's the deal, what have I missed, and who did I hit so I can apologize." Ty said.

Shepard turned and smiled at Ty, Miranda gave a faint smile and Jacob laughed and said "Gets up and going and acts like he didn't get injured, you're one tough son of a bitch." Shepard had on a dark blue wife beater that enhanced her eye color making her vibrant sapphire eyes look like two actual flawless sapphires; she also wore black jeans with a regular pair of black shoes.

To Ty's surprise she had two tattoos and piercings, she had angel wings on her back that arched up to her shoulders and went down almost all the way to her waist but stop inches short. They were very real looking, they were white with black lines in them to make them look real and give them depth where they needed them. Her other tattoo was a tribal tattoo that started at her right shoulder and spread across the top of her bicep until it stopped at the middle of her bicep, it wasn't an irregular tribal band but it did stand out more than most.

She had her ears pierced with studs and Ty could tell that she had her belly button pierced and it had dangles on it though it was covered by her shirt, she more than likely took it out while in combat or at least Ty hoped she would because if somehow it got ripped out…Ty stopped his thoughts not wanting to think about the pain it would cause. "Did Chakwas authorize you to get up and moving?" Miranda asked as her icy professional mentality came back.

Ty chuckled and said "Hell no she wanted me to stay in bed I told her that I was getting up, I feel fine except for a minor pain in my arm and chest, so who did I hit?" "Miranda and Jacob, I was lucky enough for you to have my throat in a vice grip." Shepard said. _Wow nice me you tried snapping the neck of Commander Shepard, fucking drugged up moron, _Ty thought. "I apologize, as you saw I wasn't myself I thought I was captured by Suns and had no memory of the fight but I'm here and I remember everything." Ty said.

Shepard smirked and said "Well you're lucky to be alive; your right side took the brunt of all the damage with the carnage basically disintegrating your skin on your arm. The skin graft got it back to mostly normal but your chest had scars across it. You broke almost every rib you have on your right side and had severe trauma on your organs and head which isn't really a surprise with everything that happened. You have a very feint scar down the left side of your face now from the tomahawk but everything has been repaired…with your lung collapsed and all of your nerves in your arm burned out leaving it paralyzed we had to use cybernetics to get it all working again."

Ty wasn't surprised by that, the pain he had felt before losing all feeling in his arm told him that much and as for his lung he knew that once he felt the blood pouring into it. "You'll pack a meaner punch because of the cybernetics in your arm though that's for sure or at least I know I do now so I assume it will for you as well." Shepard said.

Ty looked to Miranda who gave a slight nod of approval to what Shepard said, Ty nodded and said "Well that's not all bad then though I figured most of that by the bandages up my whole arm and chest. Do I still have my tattoos?" "We got your skin back but you don't have your tattoos there was nothing I could do for it. If you want to get rid of the scars I believe Doctor Chakwas is working on something for the med-bay." Miranda said.

Ty shrugged and said "Just a sleeve tattoo anyway not that big of a deal and as for the scars I'll see if I like them, did Garrus make it?" "Yeah he made it, his face and armor are scarred but nothing he can't handle, he'll want to see you now that you're up and moving to thank you." Shepard said. "Alright I'll go see him." Ty began to leave but stopped himself as he remembered Taraks promise to have Haley killed, "Did you guys get Tarak?" Ty asked. "Yea you won't have to worry about him. If I may ask what happened between you two?" Shepard asked.

Ty sighed at the question, that was a long story that he really didn't want to talk about but since Shepard did save his life and offered to help him find Haley so she was entitled to know what she was sticking her neck out for, "How about this I'll tell you everything tomorrow, I'm surprisingly tired and that's a long story." Ty said. Shepard nodded and said "Alright go see Garrus at the battery and then get some rest…you know where the battery is right?" Ty nodded then shook his head as he said "Yeaaaaa no, no I don't." "Alright, Miranda show Ty where to go and if he needs help walking give him some help." Shepard ordered. "Okay Shepard will do, come on Ty lets go." Miranda said. "Before I go, where should I bunk and keep my things? I'd prefer a room with either a glass window looking out at the stars or a room that has a see through roof so I can stargaze while I lay down." Ty said.

A blue hologram popped up in front of Ty startling him a little then it said "The room next to the Life Support has both a window looking out and a window looking up if you'd like it." "This ship has an AI? Damn maybe I can get part of her installed on my bike since I got a VI on mine." That earned Ty a suspicious look from Shepard and suspicion mixed with glares from the other two behind the hologram, "What?" Ty asked. "You are not unshackling a damn AI." Miranda said.

AI's had a very bad reputation because of the Geth but Ty was one that believed peace could be achieved with them because the Geth only defended themselves from the Quarians back during the Mourning War, so if the stepping stone towards peace was befriending this new AI he was going to do as he pleased. He wasn't naïve though, he knew that AI's could learn faster than he could react so he wasn't just going to unshackle her and hope, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to befriend her. "Says you." Ty muttered then looked back at EDI and continued "What should I call you?" Ty asked. "The crew calls me EDI." EDI said. Ty nodded and said "EDI it is then and thank you for the helpful information, come on princess you have to get back to work after you're done giving me a tour."

Miranda came over after rolling her eyes and Ty followed her through the ship back to the elevator and down, as they were going down Miranda asked "So how you feeling now that you're up and moving?" "Well I survived an explosion and lived to tell the tale so I say pretty damn well but otherwise I'm kinda sore, sorry for hitting you." Ty said. "Its fine didn't do much to me you hit Jacob and Chakwas the hardest, well and Shepard had some minor bruising on her neck. We have a new recruit now so you know." Miranda said. The doors opened and Ty said "Yea Chakwas mentioned someone named Jack." Ty said. "She's down below in engineering, I'm right over here, Jacob is in the armory, and Mordin is in the Tech lab if you ever need to talk to one of us." Miranda said. "Must have a big plan with all these people, so what's this Jack woman's deal?" Ty asked. "Jack hates Cerberus and she's a woman's scorn on steroids, we rescued her from the prison ship called Purgatory and Shepard gave her full access to Cerberus data so she's staying for the mission." Miranda said. "Good thing I have history against you guys then." Ty said with a smirk. "Are you going to hold that over Cerberus forever?" Miranda asked. "Yes I am princess." Ty said.

They walked past a few sleeping pods as they approached the battery than Miranda said "Well here we are and there's Garrus down there, I'll leave you to him." "Alright see ya Miranda." Ty said. "Bye Ty." Miranda said then left. Ty walked down the rest of the hall and opened up the door to see Garrus where he was working, Ty got behind him and knocked on the wall "Hey Garrus you got time?" Ty asked. Garrus turned around and said "Well I'll be damned you survived, you look like hell."

Ty smiled at the comment as he saw the scarring Shepard talked about on Garrus, a quarter of the right side of his face was bandaged up with similar material as Ty's arm was but his looked a bit more permanent than Ty's. "You look like hell to; it's not all bad though if you think about it this way, ladies love scars." Ty said. Garrus chuckled slightly and said "Yea I bet, so you were near death and you decided to help me out I didn't know the legend of Omega was so caring."

Ty nodded with a smirk at the sarcasm and sat on a crate, "Yea I guess I did but not to the extent everyone seems to think." Ty said. "How I hear it is you pushed through pain and helped my battered corpse to the ship and made sure they would save me before you is that right?" Garrus asked. Ty nodded and said "That's how it happened; Shepard doesn't give herself any credit for helping you since she helped me carry your tall heavy ass also. Seriously why do Turians have to weigh so much but always get their asses kicked so humans have to carry them?" "Makes up for all the times we pull your asses out of the fire now." Garrus said. "And the Battle of the Citadel who saved who's ass? I was pretty sure it was the human fleet." Ty stated. "Maybe but it was a Turian, human and Quarian who defeated Saren to take down the shields on the Reaper so Turians get credit for saving your fleet from getting decimated." Garrus retorted. "But you were lead by a human so it was mostly the humans." Ty said.

Garrus shrugged to himself and said "Maybe but who knows it may have been because I was there that we defeated him." Garrus said. There was going to be no end to this conversation Ty figured if he kept this up so he said "Anyway back to me having to carry your heavy ass, I'm sure your role on this squad and in life is way more important than mine, you're a tactical genius and skilled infiltrator and I'm a criminal and thief who knows his way around sniper rifles, tomahawks and technology which don't take much effort like yours does so it only made sense for a human like me to pull your ass out of the fire even though I was severely injured." Ty said. "You're also someone who will save anyone's life before your own I hear." Garrus said.

Ty looked at him with a questioning look and asked "You hear? What do you mean?" Garrus walked over to the wall in front of Ty and leaned against it, "On Omega you don't really keep your info private or at least everyone knows about you so I've heard some stories plus I read your dossier to see if it had any information to fill in some blanks and in your dossier it says you risked your life to save someone or a partner you cared about and succeeded every time no matter the cost to yourself." Garrus said.

His dossier wasn't completely right; he wasn't able to save his crew. If only he had thought through all the angles they would all still be alive. "Not completely true but I guess they wouldn't mention the bad stuff, I'm still surprised my dossier says that though." Ty said. "Surprised that it mentions you risking your life or that they have that much information on you?" Garrus asked as his mandibles moved into a smile. Ty chuckled and said "A little bit of both…I guess you can say I value others lives over mine." Ty said. "It seems that way, everyone on the squad knows that now since they were all wondering about why you risked your life for Miranda and Shepard and then did what you did for me." Garrus said. "I die for two weeks and everyone looks me up, I should put a rating scale on my dossier. "What do you think of the most wanted criminal, respectable? Asshole? Needs to die? Romantic? Dreamy?" Ty joked.

Garrus chuckled and said "Maybe you should set up a dating profile, either way though you risked your life to save my life and now I owe you for it." Ty shook his head, he hated people thinking they were in debt for him saving their lives, it wasn't how it worked in his mind so he said "No you don't owe me anything its what partners do so don't try some cowboy shit like me to pay me back." "You really don't like people being in debt to you do you?" Garrus asked. "No not really, a simple thank you to me means more." Ty said. "Thank you then, thanks to you I survived." Garrus said. "I'd do it again no matter what situation I was in." Ty said.

**A/N: Few quick side notes, first off I'd like to say thank you to those thus far who have read this and gave me the 274 views I've had so far plus a thank you to the 4 followers and 2 favs. It may not be much to others but to me it is huge because I never expected many people to look into this or to follow this. I'm super glad you enjoy this and I hope I can keep you entertain as we adventure through this story; I've had a great time writing this so I will try not to disappoint. So a huge thank you to all of you out there reading this, you've made this nerd a happy nerd. We've got a long road ahead (I'm at like chapter 80 something and counting still) so if your in for the long term than I hope you find this as enjoyable as I have. Now second to my first I found out that the page break things I put in so you know when it is switching perspective weren't going in exception of when it say "specified time lapse at specified location", so I went in and fixed that, if this bothers you let me know and I will change it back if you do not want it to change because it makes sense the way it is let me know I just thought it might be weird that one moment your reading through Shepard's perspective than the next you are reading through Ty's without a line separating them when it as a time lapse or POV change if it was better before let me know. Anyway that is all my side notes if you have any questions whether it is about Ty's power, which will get elaborated on in the future, or anything that you feel I barely touched on and need more information on to understand let me know and I'll figure out if it is explained in the future or if I just forgot to elaborate on. Okay this A/N went on a little longer than intended; I will see you next time.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Recovery

**Disclaimer/A/N: Not really sure how many times I need to do this but we'll see how long it lasts, I do not own anything from the Mass Effect Universe, that belongs to Bioware and/or E/A. I'm just a huge fan who decided to write a story within their universe, only thing I stake claim in is the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the original Mass Effect Universe. Quick note, the room that Ty stays in is the port lounge because I did not know of Kasumi at the time I wrote this but you will notice it is a lot different and there is a window above his bed that shows the outdoors. I'm sorry if you don't like that I changed the room but as I said I did not know at the time and Kasumi still has a room on the same floor but I put it against that curving wall on the port side and her room is still exactly the same, just different wall. On to the next entry of Suicidal odds.**

Ty left Garrus and walked back down to the elevator but took a right at life support to what was now his room, he walked into the room and saw a giant window looking out into space and then a window at an angle near the wall with the window also looking out into the abyss that he'd be able to look out from his bed comfortably, _This is a nice room, time to make myself at home,_ Ty thought. Ty saw a table on his left side so he walked over to it and took all his guns off setting all of them in a neat fashion on the table, he put his two predator pistols together with their holsters then he took his sniper off and put it down next with its holder. Ty grabbed his tomahawks out but as he did he remembered that his other pistol that he kept under his pillow was still in the storage compartment of his bike so he made a mental note to go grab it before he called it a night.

After getting all his present gear organized Ty looked over his room again, there were two plush chairs in the room one that was looking out the window at an angle and the other was next to him at the table, the bed was on the right side of the room when you walked in. It was a queen sized bed with a black comforter and white sheets and it had a nightstand on the left side when you were standing at the foot of it that was completely empty. On the right wall if you were standing at the edge of the bed was another door that led to a private bathroom.

Overall it was a nice room and looked comfortable but Ty figured there were bugs and cameras watching him so he began scoping the room. _I need to contact Z and make sure Jessica is alright,_ Ty thought. Ty stopped in the center of his room as he dialed his brothers number and waited for him to pick up as he restarted his search for bugs and recorders, ring…ring…rin- "Ty where the fuck have you been we haven't heard from you in a week and a half." Z answered.

_In the spirit realm hanging out with my friends_, Ty's initial thought made him laugh inwardly, _I guess now is probably a bad time for bad jokes judging on Z's worried but agitated tone._ "I've been dead and on an operating table, what did you want me to do contact you telepathically." Ty retorted back with a smile to himself. There was a slight pause than his brothers voice came back "No shit what happened?" Z asked. "Took a shotgun carnage blast for someone then took the shockwave of a missile from Taraks gunship for Commander Shepard, you know usual shit." Ty joked.

The search for bugs and cameras had been successful with Ty destroying six bugs and four cameras, satisfied that he had found all of them Ty decided to lie down on the bed and look at the stars. It was a damn beautiful sight seeing so many stars in all their spectacular beauty out there, it was a sight to cherish but Ty wished he'd be able to see a sunset eventually. He hadn't seen one in years and he missed the colors it brought and the warm feeling it gave him. "Wow you really know how to risk your life; did you at least take out that asshole Tarak?" Z said.

That glory went to Shepard, Ty wished he could've had that asshole all to himself so he could make him suffer as much as he had, it was all because of him and the other three pieces of shit that his friends were all dead but Tarak was dead so in the end it wasn't terrible Ty didn't kill him, just unfortunate that he didn't get to torture the malicious four eyed bastard. "I didn't but Shepard did, he's as dead as dead can be how I hear it…How is everything at home?" Ty asked. "Normal, we took out one of the Blue Suns bases that they had and kidnapped their leader Jason, who I know you remember. Exception of dying and being resurrected how is hunting for Haley going?" Z asked.

Ty sighed, Tarak may have been dead but Haley was still missing and that weighed Ty down mentally and emotionally. Every second she was missing was more time for her to be tortured, raped or killed. If he found her in any shape besides spectacular a lot of Blue Suns were going to pay. "Tarak said he had her on their Illium base but his word doesn't mean shit so I'm gonna have to get Aria to look into it for me which we both know means that I owe her one." Ty said. "I thought it was going to make you two even?" Z asked. "No she made us even by giving me Taraks location so now it'll make me owe her." Ty said. "Ah looks like you'll be melding with her again amongst other activities…not that you don't enjoy that." Z joked.

Ty smirked and shook his head, his brother was right about both things but it still struck Ty as a weird deal. He understood the reasoning behind it but it was still a weird deal. "Ha ha very funny, your just jealous about her going for me instead of you." Ty said. "Maybe but you'll never know." Z said. "Alright before I go how has Jessica been, I'm sure she's worried or has left already." Ty said. "Actually she's still here surprisingly, I think she might like it at our place but she also has been missing you and asking questions about our past." Z said.

That wasn't a surprise really Ty had figured that she was going to do that, he hadn't meant to leave her there or drag her and Haley into his fight but he would have been dumb not to think that when he left her there and told her to get comfortable that she wouldn't ask questions. She didn't really know a lot about him or his family. "Figured as much, you tell her anything?" Ty asked. "Hell no, the girl is innocent I am not going to corrupt her with having knowledge of us, as soon as you save Haley she needs to go back to her innocent life and enjoy it before the Reapers get here." Z said. "I know that was the plan, are you at our place?" Ty asked. "Nah I'm out causing trouble, actually you called as I was interrogating Jason from the Blue Suns about you but-" A gun shot went off and Z continued "Now I know you're okay, call her and tell her you're alright and I'll tell daddy you're alive." Z said. "Will do, tell daddy I love him, love you." Ty said. "Love you bye." Z said then hung up.

Ty opened up his omni-tool and dialed for Jessica next as he laid there, he wasn't sure what reaction to expect when she answered but he hoped she wasn't to pissed about him leaving and not contacting her in a week and a half but he wouldn't' blame her in the least bit. Ring…rin- "Ty your alive! Where are you? Have you found Haley yet? How come you haven't called?" Jessica answered. Ty chuckled at hearing the barrage of questions, it was very similar to an Asari he knew but hers were always in one breath without stopping. "Slow down Jess I've been dead for a week and half cut me some slack. I might have Haley's location so I will find her soon and I'm with Commander Shepard on the new Normandy she's helping me find Haley." Ty said.

There was a sigh of relief from Jessica which made Ty feel slightly better about her predicament "Oh that's all good news than…well except you dying. How did you die and how are you talking to me? Actually I don't want to know it'll just make me worry more. When do you think you'll be back?" Jessica asked. "I'll see you again when I have Haley I have to stay on the search for her so nothing bad happens, how have you been?" Ty asked. "Good I guess I've made myself at home here and met your dad and brother who are both really nice. You are all very secretive about what happened with you guys and the Blue Suns." Jessica said.

Ty chuckled slightly at Jessica's statement; he understood why they didn't talk about it. The history wasn't a bright shining rainbow that they all liked to think about, plus it was mostly Ty's story to tell and they respected him wanting to keep it private. "Yea we tend to be that way, listen when I see you again I'll explain what happened alright…I didn't mean to drag you and Haley into all this and I owe you an explanation for everything that is going on." Ty said. "It isn't your fault Ty and I'm okay being here so don't worry about me okay." Jessica said. "I'll do my best but still I'm sorry for everything." Ty apologized. "It's okay Ty don't worry. I'll let you continue your hunt for Haley so we can see each other again, bye Ty… and take care of yourself for me." Jessica said. "I will, bye Jess." Ty said.

The call ended and Ty sat up on the bed, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do since there wasn't much he could do now that he was on board. _I could go do some maintenance on my bike but I'm really not in the mood to do that now,_ Ty looked to the floor and decided that he was going to meditate for a few hours. Ty got off of his bed and walked over to the spot on the floor that he figured was the center and had a good view out the window.

Ty sat himself down and crossed his legs hoping to at least relax himself and clear his mind but as he stared out he decided he'd go into his memory banks and look at everything the Blue Suns had done to him to keep his fire of revenge burning. Ty opened up his memory banks and sifted through them seeing some good memories in flashes that made him smile until he reached the part of his mind that held the bad memories, he opened them all up and than opened his eyes. His vision changed to the location of the memory the stars turned into the people one of them being him and the five others being Blue Suns with a prisoner at their feet on their knees. As he stared at the mirror image of himself and Tarak, Jason and the others he began the memory and the sounds filled his ears while the smells filled his nostrils and the emotions he had became his own once again.

One Hour Later

The memory had unfolded with Ty feeling all the emotions again and remembering the pain it brought him, it wasn't a healthy thing to do but he needed to keep his reason for living for the last eight years still burning and that was his quick way to set it ablaze. After he achieved that he forced his mind to wander through his memories once again looking for one that was happier but because his mind was in such an emotional state from the first memory he wasn't able to control which he was going to look at and it brought him to another memory that made him feel physical pain.

The first jolt of pain he felt was his arm in searing pain with his skin feeling like it was being ripped apart, he saw himself being carried by Shepard as the pain made his arm feel like it was being tore apart, "TY, SHEPARD GET DOWN HE FIRED A MISSILE!" Ty heard Miranda yell. Ty watched himself as he pushed Shepard out of the way and in slow motion he watched the missile get hit by his rounds and explode ten feet away from him.

As his back got pierced by the spike the sound of the hydraulic doors opening brought him out of his memory; Ty shook his head as the memory faded and grabbed at his back where the spike had pierced. "Hey are you alright?" A female voice asked. The pain was mind splitting to the point that Ty didn't notice the voice; he looked up and saw Shepard standing in front of him, "Hey Shepard what's up?" Ty grunted in question trying to ignore the pain. Shepard was looking down at him with a look of worry, "Is your back giving you trouble?" Shepard asked her tone matching her look.

The pain began to ease as the effect of the memory faded, that was just another effect of his ability, feeling exactly what had happened from feelings, to sounds, to physical pain if it was there. "Just the memory, I take it you are here to talk?" Ty asked trying to change the subject. Shepard looked at him with a worried look for a little while longer but then she asked "Do you have time to talk?" "Does it look like I'm doing anything? Yea I can talk what's on your mind." Ty said resting his hands back on his thighs. "How are you recovering?" Shepard asked.

Ty felt his ribs and blocked the pain of his back out of his mind, he had felt fine but now everything was feeling sore and said "Eh I'm alright my ribs really hurt right now but I'll be fine…sorry about choking you, Miranda told me I left minor bruising." Shepard waved him off and said "Don't worry about it I've had worse and I'm just glad you recovered." "I'm glad to but still sorry for doing what I did." Ty said sincerely. "Its fine Ty don't worry about it." Shepard said. "Thank you for be forgiving didn't think the N7 were bred to be that way I thought it was results at any cost thinking." Ty said.

He couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth as much as he wanted to; his feeling about the Alliance still had a strong hold on him. Despite the ignorant comment he made Shepard smirked slightly and asked "Do I really seem like the results at any cost kind of person to you?" "No not really but that last part was supposed to be an inner thought. I'm in for this mission and that means I'll work with you but know that I have problems with the Alliance and Cerberus, and since you represent the Alliance I couldn't shut my mouth when I wanted to so I apologize now for my mouth. Anything else you want to talk about?" Ty asked.

Shepard crossed her arms and leaned most of her weight on her left leg, she was a very attractive woman even from the angle Ty was looking at, her facial features were great and her sapphire eyes drew him in every time their eyes met but she was Alliance and that meant despite her being attractive there was no way he was going to do anything with her aside from working with her. This was a business relationship, she was helping him and he was helping her that was it. "So what's with your vendetta against Cerberus?" Shepard asked.

Ty chuckled lightly, he hadn't expected her to dive right into that part of his history but it beat the more recent history so he said "Straight to the point I see, you ever hear of a man named Franklin Rhoddy when you were in the Alliance?" "Yea who hasn't, master knife thrower and contract killer. The Alliance had been after him since he was twenty, he killed every person he was sent to kill and left his signature mark of a knife in-between the eyes with a slit throat. I was fifteen traveling with my parents from Alliance ship to Alliance ship when they caught him." Shepard said.

She had been fifteen but Ty had been only eight when his father told him that their grandfather had died, that was a painful memory that Ty still wished had never happened. "Yea well I was eight when he was murdered; my grandfather was one of the nicest people in the Galaxy. He may have been a killer but that didn't mean he wasn't a good man, he was kind hearted person willing to help anyone who needed his help no matter how big or small the need was, not to mention a warm heart for the ladies. Well what was the official story from the Alliance they gave you?" Ty asked.

Shepard chuckled and said "Why do I have the feeling your going to contradict this." "Because I am go ahead tell me not like your working for them right now." Ty had been dying to hear what they had told their own soldiers, it was going to be a load of bullshit but it would probably prove to be funny bullshit. "Alright here you go, Franklin Rhoddy was a cold blooded killer who was going after a General of the Turian army at the time, Septimus Oraka. The Alliance got a hint from an unknown source that he was going to kill the General at a certain time on that day so we sent a transmission to them but it didn't get through because he had already disabled communications so an Alliance ship that was in the area rushed to the ship. We went to save the General and when we got there Franklin had already blown through all opposition and was about to kill the General, we offered him a chance to surrender but he went to throw his knife at the General so we gunned him down and saved the General."

Ty couldn't stop the laugh that came on, that was positively the worst bullshit he had heard, up there with Hanar Jugglers though they had turned out to be real he still counted it for the time period he didn't know the truth. Ty stood up as his laughter died down slowly getting an estranged look from Shepard than he walked to his bed and sat down, Shepard readjusted to where Ty was and Ty got his laughter controlled as he asked "You believed that shit?" "It's what everyone was told." Shepard said. "Well let me give you the reality of what happened and fill in your anonymous person. My grandfather was not a cold blooded killer, yes he killed a lot of people but if you look into his victims you will see they were not innocent, they were masters at hiding there guilt. Its funny the Alliance says that since they hired him to kill a plentiful amount of people but that's a different tale.

Shepard looked at him with an unbelieving look as Ty leaned back onto his elbows, "So one day my grandfather was contacted by Cerberus for a contract against the General, my grandfather knew who they were and he wasn't an easy man to convince in general so when they did convince him this guy was bad news it meant A they were telling the truth or B they were so good at lying and the evidence was partially true. They told him he was planning on going to the Consorts chambers and asking her for something, more than a pleasurable encounter or maybe to marry him I guess I never asked that much and didn't care for that particular detail, so they told him that he planned to kill her if she denied he'd rape her than kill her.

Ty leaned back forward and continued "They gave my grandfather personal logs with the correct time stamps and all that technical crap. My grandfather looked into it still not completely believing them because it was the Consort and Cerberus doesn't care about aliens. I figure my grandfather thought maybe the Illusive Man or who ever hired him used the Consort as their dirty little fantasy of hooking up with an alien. Anyway off topic, so it was partially true he wanted something but what we learned after is that he wasn't going to kill her and he'd just drink his life away and spread rumors when he retired but still want more from her, because that totally makes sense to spread rumors about the woman you love."

Shepard chuckled and said "That's kind of funny because I stopped him from doing that when I met him." Ty shook his head slightly with a smirk and said "People are fucking weird. Well anyway my grandfather said goodbye to us and boarded the ship, he killed all his guards and got to the General where the General didn't surrender, my grandfather fought valiantly against him but was shot in the side by the General when he went for the kill. The General made him tell him why he was attacking, my grandfather was an honorable man so when he knew he was beat there was no point to him in making his pain any worse by lying. So he told him everything from the logs to all the snooping around he did, the General told him he'd never kill the consort after all she'd done for him but if she wouldn't he'd probably end up really crushed by it because he loved her or something, still not sure about that part but that's what I figure from my own snooping. Well my grandfather believed him over Cerberus and accepted he was going to be arrested so he vid messaged us." Ty popped his omni-tool up and said "The vid itself got damaged but the recording stayed intact."

Ty clicked several buttons on the tool and than his grandfathers raspy voice came through "Hey Tim Cerberus set me up, the Generals innocent and I'm gonna be under arrest for trying to kill him since he shot me and caught me. Tell your sons I love them an-" Doors opened in the background, "Hey hey don't shoot I give up." There were heavy steps then the Generals voice "He surrenders and is un-armed you can put your guns down." Ty nodded to his tool as Admiral Hackett's voice came in, the look on Shepard's face was priceless as her eyes widened and jaw dropped "You heard him boys lower your weapons." Machine gunfire went off and the sound of a body hitting the ground was apparent followed by the sounds of someone being thrown to the ground.

Ty's omni tool disappeared and he said "As you see Cerberus planted someone in that squad to, they gave the tip to the Alliance to get their guy to the ship to not only kill my grandfather for whatever reason they decided and kill the General to probably weaken the Turian army." Ty felt his body heat up as anger filled him, his tone grew more agitated as he said "Despite that though the Alliance covered Cerberus's ass instead of telling the fucking truth. They covered it all up making it sound like they were a bunch of fucking heroes when one of them killed a man who surrender, the General was lucky he wasn't killed to but I don't blame him for anything, my grandfather tried to kill him he deserves to be angry."

Ty calmed himself down even though he had every right to be angry in his opinion, he shook his head as he looked at Shepard and said "To further cover it up me and my family are to be forever hunted." Ty forced a laugh the continued "I was eight fucking years old and I was pronounced a criminal for something I never did, my childhood was stolen from me because of back room politics and bullshit."

Shepard looked at him with sympathy mixed with surprise or more of "holy shit I can't believe that is real" look, "You wanted to know the bad blood there you go, do I know if Miranda even knows of it, no not one hundred percent but I wouldn't doubt it." Ty stopped and looked down at his RBZ 4 Life tattoo, it was a comfort to still have that on him but no one could steal that from him. Ty looked back up to Shepard and said "I understand where your loyalties lie and that is not a problem with me because you have done nothing to me but the Alliance stole my grandfather, mine and my brothers childhood and my fathers innocence from us so don't think for a second that by me working with you that I forgive them for what they did."

Shepard nodded in understanding and said "I understand…Wow I didn't expect all that Ty, I- I can't believe that he surrendered and was willing to pay for his actions…no one ever mentioned anything like that." "Yea the saying "history is written by the winners" was spot on." Ty said. Shepard nodded again but she stayed silent, Ty looked at her eyes trying to get a read on what she was doing or thinking but only came up with that she was thinking. Ty looked over to his window again just to stare out at the stars until Shepard finally said "I know you have a big issue with Cerberus but I need everyone's cooperation when we work. I know you saved her but I don't need you not doing something to help us because you hate Cerberus understand?" Ty nodded and said "Understood Commander anything else you need?"

Shepard nodded and asked "You've built your own space bike and have seen a lot being on the run your whole life, have you come across anything that could help us against the Collectors?" Ty shrugged slightly and said "Honestly I don't know a damn thing about the Collectors never heard of them until Miranda mentioned them when you and me first met, but I did learn how to get more propulsion into FTL speed and maneuverability on my bike and if I read the Cerberus files correctly the last Normandy didn't do so well out maneuvering that beam. I might be able to get it to work on this ship even though it's a lot bigger then both my bike and the old Normandy but don't be surprised if I get zapped a few times while doing it, when you get the stuff tell me and I'll install it, anything else?" Ty asked.

Shepard shook her head and said "No, get some rest you have to meet with Miranda and Chakwas to make sure everything is functioning correctly, if everything works out correctly you'll be going on a recruitment mission with me and Jack." Ty nodded and said "Sounds good…they didn't plant any brain chip in me did they?" Shepard chuckled for some reason though Ty was being serious, "No she didn't I made sure of it, see ya Ty." Shepard said. "See ya Shepard." Ty said. Ty moved himself further onto his bed as Shepard left and laid his head down on his pillow, he looked at the passing stars and relaxed himself as he fell into deep slumber.

The Next Day

Sleep didn't have a long hold on Ty as he woke up on his bed about six hours after talking to Shepard but that meant it was about 6:30 am in Earth time. Ty got off his bed with his energy back at its peak and he walked into the bathroom he had in his room, he walked up to the mirror and started taking the bandages off hoping his arm wasn't to scarred from the blast. When Ty got all the bandages off he saw multiple scars that went across his lung and then another that went from the middle of his ribs down and curved to his right side and onto his back. Ty started feeling down his side counting how much of his right side was cybernetic, _one lung, seven, eight, nine, ten, ele- ouch! I guess I have my eleventh and twelfth ribs_, Ty thought after hitting a sensitive spot on his ribs. _Well hell they weren't kidding my whole right side is basically cybernetic, well at least my scars are not protruding and just stay level with my skin, I like them,_ Ty thought.

Ty undressed and jumped in his shower and washed himself down and washed his hair, Ty dried off and got dressed in his burnt tank top, clam diggers and boots and walked into the middle of his room when EDI popped up at the terminal near the door, "Jesus EDI you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days." Ty said in a shocked tone. "Well that would require you to have a human heart not a cybernetic one." EDI said. Ty glared at the hologram and said in a defensive manner "Hey I have a human heart it's just my right side that's cybernetic." "That was a joke, I was told to tell you to go and see Miranda and Chakwas about a check up on you." EDI said. "Alright I'll go now, can you get like a ringer on you so when you're about to come I have a little warning." Ty asked. "I am not a phone Ty I am an A.I., I could play rings for you when I appear if you would like." EDI said. "No thank you it'll just freak me out more, tell the princess I'm on my way." Ty said. Ty put his hood up as he got to the door and thought, _Well this should be a great bonding experience._

**A/N: Short note I promise, I know you can recruit Zaeed and Kasumi at the beginning of the game but I did not know about them until later so in this story they aren't recruited until after Horizon, no worries to fans of them though they will still be active in the story once they are recruited. Next chapter is the last recovery chapter after that it is time to recruit Shepards baby Krogan, I'm excited for the fun between him and Ty and the fun between Ty and Jack. I will leave you with that little info and once again a huge thank you to all the viewers and all the followers and favorites, thank you for taking the time to read this you make this nerd smile. I will see you next time.**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Reliving the Past

**Disclaimer/A/N: I don't own anything from the Mass Effect universe that belongs to Bioware and/or EA. I only stake claim to the personalities of Ty and co that aren't actually part of the Mass Effect Universe. I'm apologize for the day late chapter or two day late depending on when you read this and I also apologize for it being one of my shorter chapters. Either way onto the next entry to Suicidal Odds and a little more backstory on the tragedy that befell Ty.**

The med-bay wasn't far from Ty's room so it didn't take him long to reach the room where he found Miranda leaning against the front of the bed he woke up on the other day and Chakwas was sitting at her desk, "Okay lets get this done and over with so I can get back to plotting my revenge and let you ladies get back to work." Ty said. Miranda pushed herself off the bed and said "Alright take your shirt off and sit over here so I can check your arm and lung." Ty couldn't stop his mouth as the sarcasm came spewing out, "Well aren't we skipping a few steps Miranda I mean we've only known each other for a few days. I understand you've worked on my body but I didn't know you had such strong feelings for me." Ty said with a smirk. Miranda shook her head at his response then began moving to the side of the sick bed, "You wish, now hurry up I have to get some actual work done besides for checking up on you." Miranda said.

Ty continued to smirk as he took his tank top off, he stuck it in his pocket then sat on the bed, Miranda began by doing tests on his arm and lung that Ty didn't understand but wasn't going to argue since he wasn't a doctor. This was out of his field of expertise so if this is what needed to be done he was just going to go along with it, Miranda felt up his arm making sure all the cybernetic ligaments and muscles were all there, she moved her hand to Ty's peck and started putting pressure on it checking for anything that shouldn't be there. "Can you feel this?" Miranda asked. "Why because if I do you'll feel awkward princess?" Ty joked.

He really needed to get a cap on his mouth but that was going to be very hard for him, he had been known as a smart mouthed mercenary long ago but it didn't go away as the years passed. He was only twenty three so maybe it was just his youthfulness that made his mouth unable to be shut, or at least he'd use it as an excuse to throw people off. "No because if you don't then we'll have a bigger issue." Miranda said flatly. She apparently didn't have a taste for Ty's sarcasm but Ty chuckled nonetheless and said "Yea I can feel your hands pushing against me, its very feint compared to how it used to feel but I can still feel it." Miranda nodded slightly and started going down his ribs, "Tell me when you feel your real ribs they should still be in pain." Miranda said.

Ty waited as Miranda went down his ribs for the slight pain and as she did he said "Miranda I gotta ask you something, why did Cerberus kill my grandfather I thought you guys were pro-human and all for helping the human race no matter what." "He was a loose end and he attacked Cerberus before, we considered him a threat and we killed him." Miranda said without missing a beat.

That had been programmed into her by the Illusive Man there was no doubt about that. "And now you're recruiting his grandson and you don't consider me a threat?" Ty asked. "You'll prove yourself either as an asset or a liability by the end of this and then the Illusive Man will decide whether to kill you or keep you on the Normandy." Miranda said coldly. Miranda hit the sensitive spot on Ty's ribs making him wince in pain and grab her hand, "That's my rib." Ty said.

He wasn't entirely surprised by Miranda's response, he had figured that his contract could be terminated in more ways than one at the end of this if he wasn't careful and didn't get out quickly. Miranda nodded to Ty as he let go of her hand, Miranda began more tests as she said "To be quite honest I don't think the Illusive Man was right letting Cerberus kill your grandfather, he took out corrupt officials and made sure humanity was strong but maybe he saw something back then that I don't." Miranda said as she started up more tests. Ty chuckled and said "Don't tell me your so naïve that you believe everything the Illusive Man says." Miranda glared at him so he shrugged slightly and continued "Besides you don't need to kiss my ass Miranda, I know my grandfather was a good man. He did more for humanity and aliens than the Citadel Council and the Alliance combined by protecting the innocents and killing those who wanted to cease power for ill reasons."

Miranda shook her head slightly as she said "I'm not kissing your ass I'm being honest. We may not like each other but I respect what your grandfather did for humanity and his skills, he was on the run from the age of twenty to the end of his days without ever getting caught." "And I've been on the run since I was thirteen, technically eight because that was when I was marked as a target but I've only really been fighting since I was thirteen." Ty said. "And you have gained yourself quite a reputation." Miranda responded. "One that I wouldn't have had if it weren't for Cerberus stealing my grandfathers life and my own in the process so I guess I have to give your boss some credit for ruining my childhood and granting me this illustrious reputation." Ty said coldly.

Miranda paused for a moment and stared at the ground for a moment, Doctor Chakwas looked back at them with a shocked look, Miranda looked to be trying to form words to say, "No response I'm shocked, maybe there is a heart under all that ice and bullshit the Illusive Man feeds you." Ty said. As Miranda tried to respond Ty continued "So if your in an honesty mood than tell me what you think of me, do you think I'm a liability or an asset. I've made it clear that I won't do jobs for the people who murdered my grandfather but I mean for this mission?"

It took a few more seconds for Miranda to get out of her speechlessness and continue where she had left off on her tests, she went to Ty's back and her usual steely tone was back as she said "I don't know yet, you saved my life and I won't forget that but I believe in everything Cerberus stands for so you are as much as an asset to this team as you are a liability to Cerberus." _That was a good way of not actually giving me a straight answer,_ Ty thought. "So you believe the Illusive Man is right in his actions against my family and assisting in ruining a child's innocence?" Ty asked. "I- no I don't but that was the All-" "Oh do not start pointing fingers as a defense, listen it is as much as Cerberus's fault as it is the Alliance's so don't try shifting blame when you are both equally at fault for fucking with mine and my brothers life."

Miranda stood once again speechless at Ty's response so Ty decided to tone down his attitude towards her, "I think deep down you want to trust me and believe I will do anything in my power to protect you or whoever I'm teamed with but the indoctrination that the Illusive Man has on you won't let you believe that no matter what I do." Ty said. "Maybe but we have a long way to go and one act of kindness doesn't change who you are to Cerberus." Miranda said. "That's the Illusive Man talking through you Miranda…unless your head is that far up the Cerberus ideals ass. You judge me on a skewed un-truthful version of history about me and my kin; I hope no one ever judges you on your kin because whoever does wouldn't know who you truly were." Ty stated as he looked back at her.

Miranda looked at him but than looked down at her omni-tool which had a screen up with data going across it, "You're clear everything is how it should be." Miranda said. _I think she just dismissed me,_ Ty thought but nodded and said "That's a weight off my shoulders or well I guess shoulder now since the other side isn't completely me anymore. I'm going to go relax until I'm needed and Miranda I know you're all "Cerberus is right" and "Cerberus is everything" but try and think about what I said, maybe someday you'll realize the truth." "And what truth is that?" Miranda asked her stone attitude reforming. Ty smirked and said "And ruin the fun for you to figure it out, Miranda my dossier must leave it out completely 'cause it's not my style, see ya around Miranda, Chakwas keep looking out for everyone." Chakwas nodded and Ty threw his tank top on as he walked out and back to his room.

Ty got into his room after the short walk and allowed his doors to shut behind him as he stared out the glass window. He hadn't intended to be so hostile towards her but her ridiculous faith in Cerberus had been under his skin since they first met. How someone as smart as her could follow the Illusive Man so blindly and naively was beyond him. The Illusive Man had to hide a lot of information from her there was no way she was that naïve and knew all the bad things Cerberus did, or at least he hoped she couldn't be that naïve or actually agree with all of that.

With a shake of his head Ty moved his thoughts away from Cerberus and Miranda and decided to sit down on his bed_. I should get Aria to start looking for Haley, the sooner she does the sooner I'll have Haley back and she can go back to her life._ Ty dialed Arias private number and waited for her to pick up, ring...rin- "Well well well it seems the legend lives on." Aria answered. "Well actually it had ended but it was resurrected thankfully but that's more of an extra detail to the tale. I need your help Aria." Ty said. "I'm impressed Ty, not only are you still alive but you need my help as well." Aria said with clear pleasure about the situation in her tone. "And that impresses you. I thought my skills were what impressed you." Ty said. "Some of your skills are more impressive than your fighting skills, so what can I do for such a special occasion?" Aria asked.

Ty wasn't sure if she realized he was about to owe her one or not but he went with that she didn't so he said "I need you to look into something for me and I know if you do I'll owe you one but this is important and if our deal is still the same than I'll pay you back as I always do." Ty said. "Hmmm sounds like a good time in the end, what do you need me to look up?" Aria asked. "Tarak said that he was holding my friend Haley at a Blue Suns base on Illium, I know there are a couple bases there so I need you to find which and look into if they are still holding her there and if they aren't where they moved her to. Can you do that for me Aria I'd really appreciate it?" Ty asked. "Well I have been waiting for the opportune moment to get you to owe me one so I guess this will do; it's been a while since you last owed me, you still up for our arrangement?" Aria asked.

Ty's hydraulic doors opened and Shepard came in, she saw Ty talking and started to leave but Ty shook his head and waved her in, "Yea I'm all for it as long as I'm not taken and as of now I am not." Ty said. "Okay I'll get the information soon, stay safe Ty I wouldn't want you spoiled before I get you again." Aria said. Ty smirked and said "I bet, I'll see you when you get the information and stay safe I'd hate for something to happen before I pay you back." "Don't worry about me I'll be just fine when we see each other, talk to you soon Ty." Aria said. "See ya Aria." Ty said.

Shepard smirked as Ty ended his call only hearing his side of the conversation, "So what can I help you with Shepard?" Ty asked. "Was that a business call or a friendly call?" Shepard asked as she crossed her arms and leaned a little. Ty smirked, she really didn't need to know about his arrangement with Aria right now so he said "Business she's going to make sure Taraks information is solid for me, you talk to Miranda?" That changed the subject easily as Shepard nodded and said "Yea she told me you were good to go and wouldn't stop making wisecracks as she made sure you were alright."

It seemed Miranda didn't divulge all of their conversation to Shepard, that or Shepard thought he'd try to lie about it which he wouldn't so he raised his hands and said "Guilty as charged besides how many times do I get the chance to make jokes about a woman feeling my body and not have feelings for the person… if I'm honest than I do it a lot but it's still fun every time though." "So you weren't hitting on her?" Shepard asked. Ty shook his head with a slightly disgusted look as he said "No way are you kidding, I read that she was genetically built to be better and good looking and all that but that doesn't mean I like her. Besides Cerberus is her life which is a complete turn off for me." "So she's not even attractive to you?" Shepard asked.

Ty shook his head, why this woman thought it would be a fun conversation to talk about what he found attractive was beyond him but he said "No, she has looks I'll give her that much but her attitude and who she works for are turn offs." "Every guy I've met would be all over her, she has everything most people could want, a good body and good looks." Shepard said in a slightly admiring way. Ty chuckled and said "It sounds like you should date her than the way you talk about her." That got Shepard out of her slightly dreamy state and got him a glare as he continued "I'm not like other guys if you haven't noticed. Its not just looks its personality and looks and when I say looks I don't mean boobs and ass I mean facial features, someone's eyes and their smile are important things, if you aren't good looking or fun and free then you aint getting with me."

Shepard smirked and Ty said "I'm just sayin besides I'm not looking for a relationship I tried it once and I ended up heart broken because of it, the pain isn't worth it if you ask me." "You'd never get in a relationship ever again?" Shepard asked. "Probably not." Ty answered without blinking. "You could find someone special who reawakens your desires." _Ha like that'll ever happen,_ Ty thought. "I know myself well enough to know it'll take a miracle to find someone who reawakens those types of desires. Relationships are overrated and always leave one or both of the people emotionally scarred and it happened once to me already and I don't plan on getting scarred twice." "Is that why you do friends with benefits?" Shepard asked.

Ty looked away, that was leading to a conversation he did not want to have "Yea it is, look I'd rather not talk about this I try leaving it in the past for a reason even though it doesn't really work, is there anything else you want to talk about besides what I find attractive and relationships?" "Yea one last thing, what happened between you and Tarak unless that revolves around the last question?" Shepard said.

Ty shook his head, it had been apart of it but that was six years ago the original betrayal was eight years ago. "It's not the same, its right before that but not there." Shepard sat in a plush chair across from Ty and Ty crossed his legs and figured out where he was going to start in his story, he hadn't talked about it to anyone ever except for Haley who had been the only person who had grown close enough to him to learn about it. "I joined the Blue Suns when I was thirteen and was loyal until I was fifteen but I had been working on Omega before that for six months which is how I met Aria. As I told you yesterday I was on the run from the Alliance so I figured I'd hone my killing skills in a merc band so I picked the Blue Suns because at the time they weren't completely terrible though they were still bad compared to when they first started out. I honed the skills I had but Tarak made one mistake and that was mishearing my rules of employment."

Shepard raised an eyebrow and asked "Should I be aware of these rules or am I already?" "I never break promises and that's the truth and I promised to help the Blue Suns gain power but not strong enough to take over Omega because me and Aria had a deal since she saw my potential, but I also promised that if they broke my moral code I'd rain hell on them. Tarak forgot that part." Ty said.

Shepard nodded taking in the details so far as Ty stopped in the story but than he continued "Me and some of the guys got close as friends and we all had our own ship to travel and cause trouble in. We operated as an elite group for the Suns for a while until Tarak broke my code. He sent me and my guys on a pick up and delivery mission and we had done them before and we all knew they were boring as hell but it was never people we transported so when I checked the cargo and saw women and children my morals took control."

Ty paused again holding back years of emotion, he could see the women and children just sitting there on the ground tied up and beaten. He wasn't a slaver, he wasn't going to allow slavers to get their hands on these people and he sure as hell wasn't going to work for the Blue Suns anymore. "All my guys saw it and all "grew a conscious" as Tarak put it but they were with me on what was right and wrong. We did bad things but we never hurt innocents or participated in the slave ring shit. We dropped the people off at the closest human colony that we knew would keep them safe but we…I underestimated Tarak and as me and my friend Darian, a bartender at the Citadel, met my brother and dad on the colony…"

Ty leaned forward and brought his face to his hands, he could still smell the fire, hear the explosion, and hear the screams of his crew in his comm all thanks to his "great" ability. "Ty you don't-" Ty shook his head as he began again "The ship it- it got hit by a barrage of missiles cutting straight through its barriers and armor and poking holes into the ship killing all of my friends except Darian. I tried to get a comm to them to get them out of there but they couldn't hear me but I heard them as each one of them died. I should've been with them; maybe I could've saved them or at least gone down with them." Ty said as he gripped his head trying to stop himself from crying.

Guilt poured into Ty's heart and soul as he fought off the feeling to just cry, he wouldn't allow himself to cry. Tears wouldn't bring them back, tears wouldn't get him anywhere and he wasn't going to cry in front of Shepard. "Tarak had a spy following us and he knew we let them go so he killed all of my friends on that ship and than tried killing me, my family and Darian. I was fifteen at that time and I failed the people that trusted me the second I walked off that ship and didn't think that Tarak would have someone watching me. I should've known right when I saw those people, right fucking then I should have known but I was too fucking stupid and Tarak knew that."

He failed them, they followed him and by following him he killed them. Ty shook the thought from his mind and continued "We got off the colony and Darian made his decision on the ride out that he was going to go straight and get a job at the Citadel, smart on his part but I couldn't allow myself to just let Tarak live after he took the lives of my friends. He owed me a debt of eight lives and I was going to cash that in but I wasn't just going to take his life, I decided to take his Suns apart by taking down the very foundations of it. From low level mercenaries all the way to the top I hunted them down one by one and they were starting to crumble from within with every destroyed business and killed mercenary. I was getting closer and closer to killing Tarak and I was able to meet the girl I thought I had a future with…But life isn't a fairy tail and things never end in happily ever after. That's why I hunt the Blue Suns and that's why Tarak kidnapped my friend because for every pain he had caused me I took something from him."

It hurt him thinking of everything that the Blue Suns stole from him but Shepard looked even more shocked by his story as Ty started counting on his fingers and thinking of the years to fill in for Shepard "My guys died in 2177 and from then until 2183 I hunted the Suns with only my rage and my family to guide me until about 2182 which was when I started thieving trying to do something to get my mind off it for a little while because I had met a kleptomaniac who convinced me to join her because "I needed to cheer up" in her words. So during that time from 2177 and on Darian became the successful bartender he is now and my legend as the most famous thief and criminal in the universe continued to grow thanks to the people of Omega. After you got taken out in the months following you taking down Sovereign and Saren I learned that…" Ty stopped himself short, he couldn't divulge the details of what happened, that was for a certain Asari to tell her. "Well let's say I did my part to stop something bad from happening but only found out that Cerberus had gotten your body in the end so I went hunting for Cerberus to figure out why they were helping you. I met Haley that year and helped her out until we parted ways a year and a half after we met and finally this year before I met you I tore Omega a new one with Tarak for a week until I escaped and then boarded the facility that you were on, a little while later I met you and joined your mission."

Shepard looked at Ty compassionately and said "I'm sorry I didn't know it was so personal." That wasn't how bad it got, that was just the first blow, the second blow had made it more personal then it was already, "Its more personal actually but I don't want to get into that, we're out here trying to save the present and future not look at the past, I get enough of that on my own." "Is there anything else I can do to help you Ty?" Shepard asked. Ty shook his head and said "You've done a lot already Shepard, Aria will find out what I need she wants it almost as much as I do but for a different reason." "Which is?" Shepard asked with a smile. "Nunya." Ty responded. "What?" Shepard asked. "Nunya business. You'll find out eventually though, anything else Shepard?" Ty asked. "Get some rest you're coming with me tomorrow to recruit a Krogan warlord." Shepard said as she got up. "Great a Krogan I can't wait for the head-butting to begin." Ty said sarcastically. Ty had done some stupid things in the past but a head-butting contest with a Krogan was one of his worst ideas ever and he hoped he wouldn't have to do one ever again. "See ya Ty." Shepard said. "See ya Shepard." Ty said as he laid down on his bed.

**A/N: Not much to say except I hope I can get back on schedule but if I don't you can expect chapters over the weekend. See you next time.**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Advancing to the Warlord

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect, Bioware/E/A do, I only stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who aren't part of the Mass Effect Universe. Onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

"JEDORE YOU BITCH!" Ty screamed. Ty pulled out his guns and started chasing after Jedore and Tarak who had already walked away. He had a bloodlust raging in him as pushed his way through crowds of people until he found the betrayers in the Omega market area, "TARAK I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR FUCKING EYES OUT FOR THAT!" Ty screamed. The two decided to run with Ty hot on their tails chasing them and shooting at them as he chased. They had stolen his life from him and now all that was left of him was an empty shell devoid of all emotions except for the dire need of revenge. Ty chased them across many streets of Omega until Tarak pulled Jedore with him around a corner. Ty turned the corner with intent to kill them where ever they could hide but what he saw made him hit his skids.

There was an overwhelming amount of Blue Suns aiming at him, a death squad just waiting to grant him an unfulfilling death. He might have been able to take some down and get to Tarak and Jedore in the back but there was no way he'd survive and if he didn't actually get to kill him then all the deaths that they caused would go unavenged. Ty turned and began running back through Omega to his bike making him the hunted once again as the Blue Suns followed him relentlessly as they tried shooting at him. The docking station was quite a distance from his location but at the pace he was running and with the Blue Suns fire cracking at him like a whip he cleared the distance quicker than he believed was possible, Ty turned the corner that led to his docking zone with hope of getting away without getting shot but as the hope ran through his mind it was immediately deflated as he caught two rounds, one in his left shoulder and one through his right side.

Normally he would have turned around and shot who did it but he got through the last set of doors and shut them behind him before hitting the locking mechanism with a sabotage program that would keep it locked for a few hours. Ty applied some medi-gel to his wounds before getting on his bike with pain consuming his heart that followed him for the next six years.

* * *

Ty flung up in his bed with a burning pain in his shoulder and his side as he pulled out his pistol from under his pillow. His breathing was hard and fast as he scanned his room for hostiles, realizing it was just a past memory and it wasn't happening he put the gun to his head and pushed it into his temple a couple of times and said "Get out of my head." The nightmares were never ending, they always were his past failures and they never allowed for him to wake until after he had gone through the failure again. Maybe it was the spirits idea of punishment; make him relieve the same failures over and over again for all of eternity until one day he'd just pull the trigger to end it all. His hydraulic doors opened and Shepard came walking in as he was banging the gun against his head and telling the memories to get out of his head.

The look she gave him was of worry and shock, not that he blamed her. Seeing someone with a gun to their head was never something easy to walk into though Ty had no personal experience with that other than himself. Shepard went to step towards him probably to grab the pistol from him but Ty just stuck it back under his pillow before nodding at her in greeting "Hey Shep." Ty greeted. "Hey, are you alright Ty?" Shepard asked.

Ty chuckled to himself, he hadn't been alright in eight years save for a few moments when things were okay but it always wound up back the way it was. "Mentally or physically?" Ty asked. "How are you physically?" Shepard asked. Maybe she was just worried about his capabilities on the battlefield at this point, that's all that really mattered wasn't it being able to hold his own in the crew to make sure they got through this battle. Ty shrugged and said "Except the burning in my shoulder and side I'm fine but those are mental." "Having nightmares about your past?" Shepard asked.

She asked it as someone who dealt with the same problems though Ty had no doubts that she had her own set of nightmares, Ty sighed and said "Yea." Shepard walked in further until she reached the edge of his bed and sat down; she looked at Ty with curiosity and care as she asked "Do you want to talk about it?" Ty wasn't sure if he should continue opening up to the woman but she seemed to genuinely care, something that was odd to Ty since most everyone he knew aside from those he chose to call friends were out for themselves. She was the one who ordered the others to bring him back, she had to be the one to do it there was no way that the Illusive Man or Miranda would have done it out of the goodness in their hearts without changing him in a hundred different ways.

Ty owed her for giving him a second chance and not just killing him when he had asked her back on that shuttle "As you now know I can see past memories of my own and the memories of everything around me at whim, well as helpful as that is for things like looking for someone or looking for clues reliving my own past memories has become a curse. When I revisit past memories it brings me into the memory which means if it's something I was a part of and I got hurt I feel the pain again or I feel the emotions and pains of others who were there. When I sleep my mind can revisit those memories despite me not wanting to for instance like when I got shot in my arm and side which is why I have burning pains right now." Ty said.

Shepard looked intrigued by what Ty was explaining about his ability, Ty also saw a bit of pity in her eyes but Ty ignored that as she asked "Let me see if I'm still following, so you can relive any moment in your life or anyone else's?" Ty nodded and said "I can see any time, any place and exactly what happened and the emotions I felt or someone else felt all over again as long as I have a physical connection or I can see what I'm trying to figure out the past on, everything leaves an imprint of memory and when I'm looking for it I can feel the energy it gives off…well actually let me back up because I wasn't completely truthful, I can't remember everything my memory starts like from age four and up but I'm kinda thankful because I wouldn't want to relive my birth that would be really disgusting and painful I bet."

Shepard nodded slightly and said "True you're lucky there, any idea how you got the power?" "No idea my dad doesn't have it and the egg didn't either." Ty said. "Egg?" Shepard asked with a raised eyebrow. "My mother, she wasn't a mother at all but all she did good for the world was give birth to two great kids like me and my brother." Ty said. "Did she abandon you all?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded, their mother decided after giving birth to Ty that raising her children wasn't in her best interest and left them with their father. "Do you hate your mother?" Shepard asked. "She made her choice." Ty answered without blinking. "That isn't really an answer." Shepard said. "Can't hate someone you never knew, what about you and your parents?" Ty asked changing the subject.

It was fairly obvious Shepard had caught on to his changing of topic towards her parents since her face at first was of question then grew into a smirk, Ty wasn't trying to be subtle about it but he did feel the way he said. She made her choice not to stick around and he couldn't hate her since he didn't know her. She was wrong in her actions in Ty's opinion but everyone has to follow their own paths and if she felt her path was elsewhere then who was he to judge her for it.

The nickname of egg was just to refer to her as something other than mother since she hadn't been, it wasn't out of spite it was just the name he had given her since he never knew her real name and their father had never shared it. "Well I guess that's fair enough I've asked you a lot of questions and since you're apart of my squad that makes you eligible to ask me some questions." Shepard said. "What you don't like reporters asking you questions?" Ty asked with a knowing smile. Shepard scoffed and said "I hate reporters save for Emily Wong she wasn't so bad but that Al-Jilani bitch…I wish I had punched her in the face but answering her questions honestly then stonewalling her with a confidential information line was good enough. I'm just glad I haven't seen her since I woke up."

Ty had seen the interview a few months after it had happened but he was in agreement with Shepard, he too wished she'd have punched her in the face. Shepard readjusted herself as she crossed her left leg under her right, "I grew up a spacer, parents were in the Alliance going from posting to posting, I love my mom and dad though I'm not sure how much they'd approve of what I'm doing now." Shepard said. "Hey your saving the galaxy cut yourself some slack, you do anything interesting in the Alliance exception of N7 and Saren?" Ty asked. "There were some interesting things but nothing that I'd say topped those." Shepard said. "Any regrets about joining the Alliance and following your parent's footsteps?" Ty asked.

Shepard shook her head and said "No I loved every second of it…well not every second, one of the biggest regrets I have is when I lost my whole squad on Akuze to a thresher maw attack…I was the only survivor or at least I thought until I met another who was worse off than me…he ended up killing himself." Shepard's tone changed completely but Ty knew the story of Akuze, anyone who knew anything about Shepard knew that she had lost her whole squad on Akuze to thresher maws but Ty hadn't heard about the other survivor who ended up killing himself, not until now that was. Ty felt bad for making Shepard go through it again so he said "Sorry Shep didn't mean to make you relive that, I should be the only one cursed to relive bad memories." Shepard shook her head and said "No one should be cursed with that, you ready for the mission?" "Yea let me just get ready, I'll meet you up in CIC." Ty said.

Shepard nodded and left leaving Ty to get off his bed and get ready. After taking a quick shower and drying off he put his burned muscle tank top on and put the hood up and then he put his black clam diggers on and his black construction boots. Ty left his room and headed to the elevator to meet up with Shepard and the Jack woman who she had said she was bringing along to go down to whatever god forsaken planet the Krogan was on. Ty hit the button on the elevator and waited for the doors to open and let him get in.

As he waited for the doors to open he had began to wish that instead of what he had done for the last ten years he spent the time to invent something to make the elevators go faster. The doors finally opened and Ty saw a woman full of tattoos wearing nothing but some type of straps to cover only the nipples of her breasts and a pair of orange pants that looked like they were from a prison.

If she had been at a prison then Ty couldn't fathom why she would wear such little clothing since he figured it would paint a target on her back and front but then again she wore an attitude that spelt don't fuck with me so maybe that warded off people. "You Jack?" Ty asked. "Why the fuck do you care?" Jack asked. _Definitely Jack,_ Ty thought. "I'm Ty and I care because if you weren't my next question would be are you going up to CIC." Ty said walking in. "Listen I hate Cerberus I don't really give a fuck who you are and if you're looking for a friend or a girlfriend I'm not interested." Jack said as the elevator began to go up.

Ty chuckled_, well she's going to be fun to get to know, can't wait to see how she is on the battlefield,_ Ty thought. "I guess you were one of the select few who didn't read about me, I'm a most wanted criminal who has a very passionate hate for Cerberus since they killed my grandfather. I got taken out a week and a half ago while recruiting the Turian and as for friendship I'm not looking for friends or girlfriends, I tried the whole girlfriend gig didn't work out but its good to know you aren't going to be all over me." Ty said. "No wonder you look like hell, just remember I don't want you getting close to me." Jack said. "Cool with me just don't hit on me or try and get me to be your boyfriend I hate having someone trying to be my girlfriend and having to shoot people down that think I look like hell when they look like they've been through a lot worse then me." Ty said.

The doors opened and Ty walked out with a smirk before Jack could say anything, "Hey asshole you can't just say that and walk away." Jack said catching up to Ty. "There you go already acting like we are dating, I'm sorry Jack I can't be in a relationship with you so please don't hit on me." Ty said in a serious tone but he was really just having fun with her. "Wha- but I wasn't trying to…you know what fuck you." Jack said. "No thanks Jack I'm sorry." Ty said with a shake of his head. "God dammit stop acting like I'm trying to hook up with you asshole." Jack said her tone getting more irritable. "I'm not you're the one wanting to fuck me and trying to start an argument like we are in a relationship and I told you I can't." Ty said with a smile as he walked up the stairs toward the cockpit where he saw Shepard fully geared up talking with the pilot.

Jack finally caught up to Ty and punched him in his right arm really hard which he felt as if it were a sharp sting but for Jack it back fired, the cybernetics had seemed to make his right arms muscles much harder than they had been since Jack immediately began trying to shake the pain in her hand away as she said, "Ow damn it to fucking hell what is your arm made of fucking metal?" Jack asked. "Nope just rock hard muscle mixed with mostly cybernetics since you know I took a carnage blast from a shotgun and had a missile explode ten feet away from me; maybe you should've paid attention to the goings of the crew and cared what happened to me so you wouldn't have just hurt yourself Jack." Ty said with a smirk. "You're a fucking asshole." Jack said.

They got in the cock pit and Ty saw the pilot and EDI bickering back and forth, "You're just upset because every image of me you have looks like a dream sequence." The pilot said. "Joker." Shepard chided. "Fine, ah looks like your new recruits are here Shepard." Joker said as he looked around Shepard. Shepard turned around to see Ty and Jack standing almost side by side, Shepard nodded to them to which Ty and Jack nodded back, "Hey Shep, EDI nice to see you, and Joker I guess." Ty greeted not familiar with the pilot. "It is nice to see you as well Ty." EDI said. "So he kisses the AIs ass." Joker said towards Shepard.

Well it seemed the pilot wasn't exactly a big fan of the A.I. but it also seemed like Ty had been the only one to really take a likening to her, exception of Shepard. "Not my thing but I hear your mother has a habit of getting on her knees to do more than kiss ass." Ty retorted. "Hey leave my mother out of this I may have brittle bones but I'll kick your ass." Joker said. _Oh right Joker Shepard's pilot with brittle bones disease, smart ass as well I read so lets see if he can go toe to toe with me,_ "What you gonna break your arm at me or are you going to crack your bones until I airlock myself out, unless you plan on battling sarcasm which I can assure you I'll kick your ass in." Ty said.

Jack was staring in awe at Ty and so was Joker who obviously had never been battled in sarcasm before, or if he had then he had usually always won. "Shepard I think Tyler Rhoddy will make a great addition to your mission." EDI said. Ty smiled and bowed his head to EDI as he said "Thank you." "I like this guy." Jack said with a smirk to Shepard. Ty couldn't stop himself, "There you go again Jack damn how many times do I have to tell you." Ty joked. Jack went to punch him again in his right arm but Ty smirked at her as he said "That worked out really well for you last time." Jack held her fist up a little longer judging the pros and cons of punching him before lowering her hand, "Damn it you fucking asshole why do you gotta be such a smartass." Jack said as a smirk found its way to her lips. Ty pointed at Joker and said "And leave Joker to handle it I don't think so." "I see you are great a making friends Ty, come on you two we got a Krogan warlord to recruit." Shepard said.

Ty nodded and said "Lets go than, EDI take care of the ship, Joker you can pick up your jaw now." Shepard walked out first with a smirk on her face due to Ty's comment with Ty and Jack following behind until they got to the elevator, "What planet are we going down to?" Ty asked as the elevator brought them down. "Korlus, EDI picked up scans of activity down there and it seems the Blue Suns are with him, whether or not he is there with them willingly I don't know."

_Korlus…that means,_ "Jedore." Ty muttered under his breath. "What was that?" Jack asked. Ty shook his head and said "Nothing I'm certain of yet." Both women looked at Ty with confusion but Jack shrugged her shoulders as Shepard still stared at him. If she was here then he would be able to take her out and only have one last member to hunt. She'd have answers to the questions he sought since she brought the four together to betray him. Tarak the negotiator, Jedore the rat and gun hand, and Jason the deceiver would all be dead by the end of the day and then he'd only have one step left or more the last person who had a hand in the deaths of all his friends.

The doors opened bringing Ty out of his thoughts back to the real world; Shepard had had her eyes on him the whole time and knew something was up by her suspicions look. They all got out and got into the shuttle which for Ty was a little difficult since the last time he had been in the shuttle he had died or at least came close to it and the thoughts of it all toyed with his already distracted mind. They all got seated and the shuttle took of and began flying down to the planet where a battle seemed to be raging. "Seems the Warlord might be trapped down there." Jack said. This was the planet and Ty knew Jedore was here, "She's here." Ty said looking out his window. "Who is?" Shepard asked.

Ty hadn't realized he had said it out loud since he had intended for the thought to stay a thought not for everyone to hear, "A bitch in the Blue Suns named Jedore, me and her have some unfinished business." Ty said leaving it vague. "How do you know she is down here?" Jack asked. "Ran with the Suns for a few years and I paid attention to everything about them and everything that was going on around me until they killed my squad, I had heard she had been stationed here and had planned to kill her just never got around to it…this was going to be our next target after we took out the facility my brother and dad just took out, you said this guys a Krogan warlord right Shepard?" Ty asked.

Shepard nodded and Ty shook his head, _knowing her she is probably trying to do something outrageously stupid_, "Jedore always thought she was better and smarter than the others, she wanted an unstoppable group of mercs and she is probably going about it some really bad way." "So you're from a family of killers and you're smart." Jack said. "Jack do I have to tell you- ow!" Ty was interrupted by Jack kicking him in the shin, "Shut it dick." Jack stated. "Guess I don't." Ty said with a smile. Shepard leaned forward with a stupid grin on her face as she said "Geez aren't you two just perfect for each other." "Ha he couldn't last with me." Jack said smirk. Ty chuckled and said "Funny I was going to say the exact thing just switch the he to she." "Alright enough flirting you two we got a job to do." Shepard said as the shuttle began to slow. "I'm not flirting with him." Jack said defensively. "This is looking to turn out into a great…acquaintanceship." Ty joked as the shuttle landed.

Ty got out first and hopped down and ran to the low wall that was outside of the shuttle for cover as the others followed. You could hear gunfire in the distance but none of it was at the three so whatever was going on was definitely either a coup or some sort of sick target practice. As Shepard began talking to Jack and Ty about the situation Ty heard the annoyance of a woman's voice on a loud speaker giving orders, her voice brought back a string of bad memories from the day they first met to the day she killed everyone he called friend.

Every fiber in Ty's being yearned to kill her and he was going to do it as painfully as possible to make up for Taraks easy death, "Great we gotta listen to this bitch bark orders to her people and I thought I hated Jedore's voice in person." Ty said. Shepard and Jack looked at Ty with a smirk "You gonna use your pistols, sniper or tomahawks?" Jack asked. "Probably all of them by the time this is over but for now pistols if you must know." Ty said pulling his pistols out. "I just hope you can handle your guns as good as you can talk shit." Jack said sarcastically. "Really you two." Shepard said with a smile.

They started walking towards the gunfire going around checking corners until they ran into a group of five Blue Suns, everyone took cover and started shooting at each other and Ty couldn't believe the lack of strategy the men had but then again he was thankful they weren't very smart, "Be right back." Ty said to Shepard and Jack. Ty hit his cloak and put his pistols away as he snuck up on the Blue Suns who were all to focused on Shepard and Jacks covering fire to notice Ty's feet prints in the ground moving towards them, he pulled out his tomahawks as he got in range then the killing started.

Ty axed two guys in the back of their skulls killing them instantly and before his cloak went off he left his left tomahawk in one of the guy's skull and took his right one out and threw it into the Turian on his left impaling it right in his neck killing him slowly. Ty's cloak went off then he punched the guy on his right rapidly in the chest not giving him time to react then finished it by slamming his right fist into his face which was covered by a helmet but his hand broke the mask into the mans face. Ty pulled his right pistol out with his left hand and killed the last guy as he stared in awe at his right hand and how much force he generated with it.

He hadn't considered how hard he could hit before but he never remembered hitting so hard with so little effort, it seemed he needed to learn his own strength again. Shepard and Jack joined Ty and Jack said "Damn and I thought I could crush someone's face in." "I barely hit him I can't imagine what a full force hit would've done." Ty said putting his pistol away and grabbing his tomahawks. "You've got to learn your strength you have in your arm because it's more than it was and you need to be careful so you don't hurt yourself or someone we want alive." Shepard said. Ty nodded, if he happened to go off on someone and they needed the person they would probably be dead before anyone could stop him. "True that, come on those were just five guys we got a long way to go knowing Jedore."

Shepard motioned them to follow and started walking towards the main facility, as they did they ran into a wounded Blue Sun whining to himself, "Shit…shit it hurts I'm gonna bleed out...shit…shit shit." Ty focused his mind on the guy then opened his eyes and saw the guy get shot in the lower side, Ty blinked and said "He's milking it, I've been shot and I know a bad wound that'll make you bleed out and his isn't that bad." "He doesn't need to know that." Shepard said with a smirk.

Ty smirked and stood back as Shepard started working her negotiation magic on the guy, "What was that you did with your eyes?" Jack asked. "I can see past memories if I focus my mind on what I want to see, it's a rare gift that only me and my brother have but as I've told Shep it's as much of a gift as a curse." Ty said. "Are you sure I got a nice dose of medi-gel ready to be used." Shepard said. "Shit what do you want?" The wounded guy said. Ty chuckled and Jack asked "So you can just read someone's mind or past without them knowing?" Jack asked. Ty shook his head and said "No, well yes I can do it without the other person feeling anything but its not necessarily reading minds, lets say I wanted to see where you got the tattoo on your head I could focus on it and see you at a tattoo parlor or where ever getting it but I couldn't see why you wanted to get it."

Jack shrugged and said "Whatever you say as long as you don't mess with my mind." "If you hurry you can find a nice shaded spot to bleed out at." Shepard said. "Ah shit…ah shit." The man said as he limped away. "That was real cute Shep." Ty said with a smirk. "I thought so to, come on lets go." Shepard said. They all walked until they turned a corner and there were two guys on a balcony and three on the ground. Ty pulled out his sniper as he ran into a low cover, one of the guys had a rocket launcher Ty soon found out as the cover he was behind shook and he's ears popped, Ty got out of cover and held his breath as he aimed at the one with a rocket launcher, _bye bye,_ Ty thought. He pulled the trigger and he saw the blood from the guys head splatter against the wall behind him, Ty quickly aimed at the next guy and shot seeing the pink mist hit the wall again.

Ty went back in cover and waited for some of the fire to cease that surrounded him, Shepard and Jack started shooting at the three guys killing two of them as the other went into cover. Ty got out and tried getting a shot on the guy but the guy was apparently smart enough to hide his whole body from him, "Damn I can't get a shot, can you two?" Ty asked. "Let me fix that." Jack said. Ty saw Jack stand up then he saw her arm start having blue go around it, So she's a biotic that's interesting, Ty thought. "I'LL THROW YOU LIKE A TOY!" Jack yelled as she tossed a pull field at the guy which hit him and suspended him in air.

With the guy popped up Ty decided it was a good time to take him out but as he got out of cover to shoot him Shepard pulled out her shotgun and before Ty could react she sped forward and biotic charged the guy detonating the biotic field sending him flying then finishing him with a shotgun blast. "You know biotics are so cheating to us grunts without the ability to move shit with our minds." Ty said. There was more gunfire coming from around the next corner, "We'll talk about it later." Shepard said. "Good idea." Ty said as he and Jack ran to catch up with Shepard.

After blowing through the next groups of Blue Suns they came across a Krogan fighting them, "Is that Okeer?" Ty asked taking cover. "No but he seems to be helping us so don't kill him." Shepard said. Ty pulled his sniper out again and said "Hey Jack or Shepard could one of you be so kind to use your pull on those assholes up there so I can get a clear shot." "Watch the landing." Jack said as she launched another pull field and hit it on the four guys. Ty got out of cover and held his breath as he saw the four targets, the first was upside down, the second was sideways and the other two were straight up, he got the first in his scope and time slowed down for him, _here we go_, Ty thought. He pulled the trigger and moved to the second target and shot again, as he got to the third and forth their heads became lined up and he shot and he saw the blood splatter against the wall for his last kill.

The remaining Suns were killed by Shepard and Jack or the Krogan since Ty checked the wall for three splatter zones, he saw all three and thought, _four kills two seconds maybe two and a half, good kills Daddy would be proud. _Ty put his sniper away as they walked up to the Krogan who started talking to Shepard, "I guess you can shoot a gun well." Jack said sarcastically. "And it looks like you can use your biotics well enough." Ty responded with a smirk.

Ty sat back and listened to Shepard and the Krogans conversation learning that he was full grown but only weeks out of the tank which Ty thought was incredible but also told him that Jedore was getting her way by the sound of it. _She'll get hers soon enough_, Ty thought. "Is it even possible for him to be full grown?" Shepard asked looking back at Ty and Jack. "How the fuck should I know." Jack responded. "Well hypothetically it is think about it he's a tank bred not born through mating and if Jedore has this Okeer guy working for her she could use his knowledge of being a Krogan to do it, Jedore likes to think that she gets what she wants no matter what so she's pretty fucked in the head." Ty said. "I don't know anything about that all I know was I wasn't good enough and I must stay here and fight." The Krogan said.

Ty shook his head whether it be Okeer or Jedore implanting that into the Krogans head he wasn't sure but either way it irked him, _patience don't lose your cool just yet, I will kill her there is no doubt about it just stay focused until then,_ Ty thought. "What's up with you?" Jack asked noticing his sudden change of attitude. "I was loyal to the Blue Suns for two almost three full years, I started when I was thirteen and when I was apart of them Jedore and me never saw eye to eye because she always thought she was better than the rest, she ended up ratting me and my guys out to Tarak and blowing up my ship with eight of my friends on it when we decided not to take part in giving innocent women and children to a bunch of slavers…I can't wait to kill her." "Wow that's rough." Jack said. "I'm going to make her pay make no mistake about that." Ty said.

Jack nodded and the Krogan moved a giant piece of metal out of the way for Shepard, "God damn what I'd do to have Krogan strength in this agile body." Ty said. That got a chuckle out of Shepard and Jack as the Krogan told Shepard he was going to stay and fight. The squad continued their hunt through the facility with Shepard scanning some tech along the way. They soon began running into Krogans who weren't so friendly and more Blue Suns.

Ty ended up taking a walkway through the center of the room they were in by himself while Shepard and Jack took longer way around but as he reached the center of the bridge he saw one of the tank bred Krogans charging right at him with a shotgun in hand. "Seriously!?" Ty asked out loud at his luck as he rolled out of the way of the Krogan. Ty shot his pistols at the Krogans back punching through his armor trying to kill him without instigating a blood rage. Before Ty could punch through the remainder of the Krogans armor the Krogan charged him yet again but this time his head landed square against Ty's sending him flying backwards to the ground. "One day, one day is all I ask to not have to get charged or head-butted by a Krogan." Ty grumbled as he got himself back onto his feet. Ty put his pistols away and pulled out his tomahawks, "Is that to much to ask?" Ty asked to the Krogan.

The Krogans response was less than spectacular with him letting out a roar and charging Ty once again but this time Ty let out a roar of his own as he charged the Krogan, as they both reached each other Ty dodged to the side of the head-butt and shoulder charge and implanted his tomahawks into the side of the Krogans neck, as the Krogan tried to move away from the strike Ty let go of his tomahawks leaving them in his neck and then pulled out his sniper.

The Krogan reached for his neck to get the tomahawks out of his throat but Ty's sniper unfolded and the barrel reached the Krogans mask, the Krogan looked at Ty as Ty shrugged and said "Sorry." Ty fired off the shot which killed the Krogan, as he looked up he saw Jack and Shepard being pinned down by gun fire from two Blue Suns, Ty aimed down his sights as he yelled "Hey assholes!" The Blue Suns looked over as Ty fired off three rounds into their shields which knocked down their shields with the first rounds and then penetrated their skulls with two rounds each.

Ty put his sniper back and pulled his tomahawks out of the dead Krogan, "You know I really hate fighting Krogans." Ty said. "Don't puss out on us now we still got a long way to go." Jack said. "Oh don't you worry about me I'll be just fine, I'm more worried about you two girls over exerting yourselves." "How'd I get dragged into that?" Shepard asked. "Because you're our leader which gives me all the authority to give you shit or drag you into me giving someone else shit, that's the rules my guys came up with at least." Ty said. "That doesn't seem fair but I can't say I disagree or haven't been subjected to it, come on lets get going."

Shepard led them through the rest of the room and they continued to run into more Suns along the way with Ty getting to snipe again when they were across a gap on a balcony, they were shooting rocket launchers at them that followed the three. Ty sniped the few that he could before having to dive down onto the ground from his kneeling position as missiles impacted against the cover he had been behind. Jack and Shepard made quick work of the ones he had missed. Jedore was still yelling commands over intercom and she was not happy at all with what her Blue Suns were doing getting taken out so easily by three people but Ty also didn't care how she felt because he was going to shove that microphone down her throat so the whole planet could hear her suffocate.

After getting through the group of Suns on the balcony they moved further into the facility until they were nearly a door away to reach the warlord, he knew that Jedore would have something big planned for them that she had planned as a back up in case something like this happened and whatever it was Ty planned on mowing through it to get to her. As the group neared the last set of doors Ty found himself fighting hand to hand with a Turian Blue Suns member while Shepard and Jack fought off the others.

The Turian was definitely trained well in hand to hand since he was giving Ty some trouble with finishing him. The Turian blocked Ty's punch and followed it up with a head-butt making Ty's head jerk back. The Turian had Ty's hand so Ty didn't go stumbling back but Ty decided to return the favor by head-butting the Turian. Ty's head cracked the face mask a little and made himself a little dazed but the Turian wasn't extremely fazed by it since he kicked Ty in the gut hard.

Ty lost his footing and landed on his butt, when he got on his knees he saw that the Turian was right in front of him with the butt of his gun facing Ty, Ty put his right arm up and blocked each hit feeling only the slightest pain from the strikes until the Turian looked at the gun like there was something wrong with it, "Is that all you got?" Ty asked. The Turian went to strike Ty again but this time Ty punched the Turian in the stomach with his right hand making the Turian stumble back, the hit didn't dent the armor but it had sent enough force to knock him back a few steps. Ty got to his feet and blocked a right hook from the Turian countering with an uppercut and then pushing the momentum of a left hook that the Turian through to the side leaving him open for a knee to the gut and then a punch to the face, or rather the helmet he was wearing.

The Turian had given Ty a rather good show in fighting but it was time for him to be put down like the rest of the Suns that were getting gunned down behind him, Ty straight punched the Turian in the face with his left hand and then followed it with a hard right haymaker, the Turian tried to throw another punch only for Ty to easily block it and punch the Turian straight in the glass of his mask. Ty's right hand went into the face mask and Ty could feel the Turians blood dripping onto his hand as the body began to fall limp, Ty pulled his hand out and the Turians body collapsed but Ty pulled out his pistol and shot him in the head twice to be sure he was indeed dead. "And that's why you shouldn't wear those masks you never know who can knock them into your head and kill you." Ty said.

**A/N: Next up is Un-Finished Business, see you there.**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Un-finished Business

**Disclaimer/A/N: First off I don't own anything Mass Effect all of that belongs to Bioware/E/A, I just stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co that are not apart of the Mass Effect Universe. Secondly I apologize for this chapter being so late, I ended up binge gaming Mass Effect 3 over Labor Day weekend and forgot to post new chapters up so sorry for the delay. Thirdly for those who are squeamish to violence and descriptions of very bad things please be warned that this chapter includes not only violence and blood and such but it also lets you hear some of Ty's haunting memories which aren't that bad but if for some reason they bother you then at least I gave you a heads up I guess. Any way onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds. **

After Ty regrouped with Shepard and Jack and they took out the remaining Suns the squad headed through what Ty assumed would be the last set of doors before they got to the Warlord, they had gone through tons of Suns now and if Jedore had any left than they would be her top lieutenants or at least that's how Ty figured it. As they got into the next room there was an Asari hiding behind a desk and there was also a dead Krogan on an operating table.

They had fought tons of the tank bred Krogans at this point but seeing the one on the operating table was still sad in its own way to Ty_, how many can you kill in the pursuit of a goal until you finally realize that everything leading to that goal is trailed with blood and death, how can someone just ignore all of the death, all the countless lives lost because of what they did and justify it_, Ty thought as he stared at the dead Krogan.

He lived with the blood of his friends on his hands and there was no way to justify that, no way to just rationalize it or say they died for a higher cause. Dead was dead no matter how you sugar coated it and there was no justification for death no matter if it was during war or in the pursuit of some goal. "Don't shoot don't shoot." The Asari woman said standing up. Ty glared over at her as he pulled out a pistol and tomahawk and aimed the pistol at her, if she had anything to do with this then she deserved death but Ty looked over to Shepard to see what she wanted done. He wasn't the squad leader anymore and he never just made a decision without consulting the others so this was Shepard's choice and whatever her decision was he would follow it.

Shepard motioned Ty to put his weapons away which he did reluctantly at first but in the end followed her order, Shepard and the Asari who Ty found out was named Rana Thanoptis apparently knew each other from Virmire but Ty didn't care to listen to most of the conversation. Ty was suspicious of the woman especially since it didn't seem like she had made a turn for the better at all since Virmire but she gained his attention when she said "Jedore wants Okeer to create her an unstoppable army of Krogans but Okeer mostly ignores her he's trying to find a way to cure the genophage." Rana said. "Well shit." Ty said.

Now Ty wasn't against curing the genophage but at the present moment in time that was a bad idea, the Krogan Clans were not united and most, if not all, wanted revenge on all the Council races for their sterilization. The Reapers were coming soon and if the Krogans started another rebellion before or during the Reapers arrival then they were all screwed. "Curing the genophage while the Krogan want to kill us all, great idea." Jack said looking at Ty with a smirk. "Kinda what I be thinking, I have nothing against the Krogans but I'd rather not have to fight a war against them." Ty said. "We could take them." Jack said. Ty smirked and said "Maybe but I'll pass on that war." "I'm going to get a head start on running knowing you since you'll probably blow this place up." Rana said walking by them all.

Rana walked by Ty quickly leaving the room before anyone could say anything, Ty shook his head and looked at Shepard as he said "No offense Shepard but I would've killed her I'm not one to give second chances, people don't change." "That's going to bite you in the ass Shepard." Jack stated. "Thank you both for your positive input it's really motivating." Shepard said with a smirk. "No problem Shep." Ty said with a smile.

They walked through the doors and up some stairs to see a giant Krogan working on a computer and a giant Krogan inside a tank, "Holy shit that guy is huge." Ty said as he looked at the Krogan in the tank. The Krogan in the tank was huge, bigger than most Krogans Ty had seen and he had one in his crew that was huge and he was a full grown adult with a huge head plate but this guy was only weeks old most likely and he was a little larger than Ty's dead friend. The Krogan didn't even have a full grown head plate yet but Ty saw sure that when it finally grew in that it would make him look more menacing than he already did. "Beautiful isn't it." Okeer said.

Ty couldn't help but stare in awe at the tank Krogan as Shepard began talking to Okeer; this was going to be a very interesting piece of cargo if Okeer brought him with them. Getting the tank onto the Normandy would be interesting because of how huge and heavy the damn thing would be and if they happened to accidently open it on the way back to the Normandy they would either have one extremely pissed off Warlord and a passive Krogan or they would have one pissed off Warlord and one very pissed off Krogan who had been locked up in a tank for an unknown amount of time who would definitely have some pent up aggression. Ty didn't know whether to feel safe or worried about bringing Okeer with them.

Ty walked away from the tank and over to the window to see what was down there but when he got a good glimpse of it he stifled his growl of agitation due to there being a bunch of tanks with Krogan in them in the room, it looked like there were between five and ten tanks on the left and right side of the room from where he was standing_. My luck they'll open up and we'll have to fight them all,_ Ty thought but immediately wanted to slam his head against the glass, _crap I totally just jinxed us._ Ty walked back behind Shepard and Jack and waited as Okeer and Shepard talking about him coming along with them when red lights started flashing in the room, _Damn it I so jinxed us,_ "That can't be good." Ty said. "Thank you captain obvious." Jack said with a smirk.

Okeer walked to the computer and said "Jedore's turned off the power, stupid bitch she's going to destroy my legacy. Shepard you want information on the Collectors go stop Jedore and save my work." Ty could have sworn he heard Shepard mutter something along the lines of "Of course." But she began walking to the stairs that led down to the bottom floor only stopping to grab something off the terminal near the door about Krogan Vitality or something of that sort.

Jack and Ty were close behind as they got down the stairs and stopped at the door with Shepard checking her guns quickly, Ty knew his were good and he still had some spare ammo so he said "You girls can shoot Jedore all you want but I want the kill." Shepard stopped checking her guns as she looked back at Ty with a serious look, "Ty revenge isn't going to change what happened and make it all go away."

She had a valid point but revenge was what had kept him from getting himself killed in battle on purpose, it had been his goal over the last eight years and a goal he intended to finish. "I understand that you don't like it Shepard but this has been my goal for the last eight years, to make those who took my friends from me pay and the debt Jedore owes me I plan on collecting." Ty said as he pulled out his pistols then he continued "This is your show Shepard but me and Jedore have un-finished business that I plan on finishing now, you can either help me or you can stand aside, either way this is getting done today by my hands." Shepard stared long and hard at Ty but Ty didn't waver under the stare, Shepard finally nodded "All right Ty."

Shepard opened the doors and as they walked out rounds began impacting against the near wall. "Ty take cover by that tank and provide sniper fire, Jack with me." Shepard ordered. Ty ran and took cover at the first tank where Shepard had told him to go and switched to his sniper rifle. Ty peeked around the corner and saw that there were Blue Suns, a giant YMIR mech, Krogans coming out of their containers despite Ty's wishes of them not to come out and the person behind it all from this madness to everything she had stirred up eight years ago, Ty fired a round down range taking down the shields of the person who ratted him out and killed all his friends. "Jedore I'm coming for you!" Ty yelled from his tank.

A few of the Blue Suns who were around Jedore suddenly got up and began moving to cover closer to Ty, the first who got up though didn't get very far with Ty hitting him with a head shot blowing the side of his head apart and making him fall to the ground with a thud. The next one Ty had gotten his sights on was in the midst of crouching down into cover as he ran but Ty shot his knee out making him stop and fall flat on his chest. The man attempted to get up until Ty put a stop to him with another round to the head. The last guy Ty had seen running actually made it behind cover but unfortunately for him Ty saw exactly where he had hid behind cover so when he came popping up Ty fired four rounds, two into his chest and the other two into his head.

Ty got back into cover and ejected his thermal clip despite having five rounds left in his clip; bullets ricocheted off of the tank he was hiding behind and then a shockwave from an explosion made Ty stumble a bit forward. _Fucking pricks_, Ty thought. The explosion had to be from a missile launcher because the YMIR mechs missiles would've had a stronger impact against his tank so Ty was about to start searching for the culprit behind the missile launcher when he looked over to Jack and Shepard to see them getting pinned down by the crossfire between the Suns and the YMIR missiles and mini-gun.

Jack sent a shockwave down field knocking some of the Blue Suns over or into the air while Shepard picked off a few with her Predator pistol. Shepard glowed blue as she sent a pull field towards the Blue Suns most likely hitting whoever she was trying to hit. Ty began to turn back to his sniping when he saw a gun being aimed directly in his face, _Mother, _"Fucker!" Ty yelled as he smashed the shotgun away from his face with his sniper. The Krogan who had got behind him fired a round into the tank after Ty swatted the gun but recovered by grabbing Ty by his shirt and tossing him a few feet forward making him slam onto the ground hard.

As if the spirits hadn't had enough laughs with the original Krogan who had charged him today Ty once again found himself rolling across the ground trying not to get charged by the Krogan which really wasn't working out at all. "Fuck my luck man!" Ty groaned as he came out of the role and aimed his sniper rifle at the Krogan. Ty fired off three rounds as the Krogan charged at him again only hitting one of the shots which impacted against the Krogans gun hand making him drop the shotgun. That was score one for team Ty but the score board was still stacked against him.

As the Krogan neared Ty he rolled out of the way again for what felt like the tenth time today but as he came out of the role he pulled one of his tomahawks out and threw it at the Krogan piercing through the thick armor and into his back, the Krogan stopped with its arms spread out but instead of dying it turned around and let out a battle cry, _Uh-oh,_ Ty thought as he put his sniper away. The Krogan tried charging Ty again, Ty grabbed for his other tomahawk and said "Damn it just die already." Ty pulled out his other tomahawk quickly and threw it at him hitting the Krogan in the throat area but even though Ty had thought it would kill him it just pissed the Krogan off more.

Before Ty could curse his luck and pull out his pistol to shoot the Krogan he found himself in the strong grip of the Krogans three fingered hands and then suddenly he was picked him up above his head. The Krogan re-gripped so he had Ty's right arm and his right leg as he let out a roar of victory, Shepard happened to look over as Ty began trying to punch the Krogan in the head and reach one of his tomahawks "Hey I'm not a toy you can't just man handle me or Krogan handle me!" Ty yelled at the Krogan. "Hold on Ty!" Shepard called from her cover. "Fuck holding on I'm trying to get him to let me go!" Ty yelled back as he landed a punch in the Krogans left eye.

Ty learned two things in that moment, the first was that punching a Krogan in the eye pissed them off badly; the second was that the spirits had a sick sense of humor. Ty felt the Krogan shift its weight slightly and aim him towards Shepard and Jack before letting him go with a very big throw. "SHITTTTTTT!" Ty yelled as he flailed through the air. Ty's weightless ness ended with a loud thud as he crashed into an empty tank hard enough to knock it over, Ty rolled off the tank back onto the ground where he once again landed hard but this time on his chest, "OOOWWW!" Ty groaned loudly.

_Today was a shitty day to come out, oh yeah lets join a suicide mission and then go down to a Blue Sun base to get revenge it'll be a blast, _Ty thought. "Ty are you alright!" Shepard yelled over the gunfire. _No I just got tossed halfway across this room into a tank by a Krogan and hit it hard enough that I knocked it over,_ Ty thought. "Just dandy Shep." Ty said as he got himself to his hands and knees.

The ground began thumping slightly as if it had its own heart beat and the thumps were coming towards him, not knowing if it was the Krogan or the mech Ty hit his cloak and rolled away from where he was just laying. He looked up and saw the Krogan looking around for him so he stood up slowly and got as close as he could to the Krogan, when the Krogan began sniffing the air Ty wound his head back and slammed it into the Krogans face, the Krogans head flung back from the force of the hit and as he did Ty pulled the tomahawk out of his throat area and started slamming it into the Krogans face repeatedly.

After the first few strikes the Krogan fell to the ground but Ty followed it down to the ground still slamming the blade of his tomahawk into its face until blood had splattered all over Ty's arms, face and tank top. He finally stopped after a few more strikes and pulled his other tomahawk out of the Krogan and looked for the giant mech that was causing trouble, "Come on Ty I thought you had more in you than this or have you finally just decided to quit so I can reunite you with all your friends!" Jedore yelled from the other side. She followed the comment with her laugh, the same laugh she had when she had murdered all of his friends, the laugh made Ty's eye twitch and made his mind go down a small memory lane as he looked for her.

She was no where to be seen but Ty found the mech pretty quickly since it was aiming to shoot a missile at Shepard and Jack again so Ty aimed and tossed his tomahawk striking it in the arm and cutting the wiring to it making the arm fall limp and aim at the ground. Ty took his other tomahawk and tossed it as hard as he could piercing it in the mechs face. The mech fell limp onto its knees and then it blew up sending Ty's tomahawks flying across the room into two tanks impaling them into the glass on both.

Ty got into cover next to Shepard and Jack and asked "You two alright?" Apparently seeing Ty blood soaked was shocking by the look on both of Jacks and Shepard's faces, "Yea we're good, what the hell happened to you?" Shepard asked. "Krogan that tossed me had a lot of blood but I wouldn't look over at him it's pretty gruesome." Ty said. Gunfire hit the tank Ty was behind and Shepard said "Well it seems all we have left are Jedore and the remaining Blue Suns." Ty nodded and pulled out his sniper and aimed around the corner, there were three regular Blue Suns with assault rifles and two with rocket launchers, "I'll handle the rocket launchers you two get the other three." Ty said as he put his sniper away.

Shepard gave him a questioning look and asked "What are you going to do?" Ty smirked and said "Get my tomahawks back, kill them and find Jedore." "Don't get shot or blown up." Jack said with a smirk. "Yea yea your hilarious, I'll be fine." Ty said. Shepard and Jack got out of cover and started shooting at the Blue Suns with their pistols as Ty hit his cloak and ran to each tank with his tomahawk on it, he grabbed both and put them away then snuck on top of a tank above the two rocket launcher guys and said "Hey bitches."

His cloak went off and he jumped down tackling one of the rocket launcher girls, the other turned to face Ty but Ty pulled his pistol out and shot her in the leg making her fall to the ground face flat, Ty shot her in the head then broke the girls neck that was under him and grabbed her rocket launcher. As he got up he aimed it at the remaining Blue Suns, "Time to die fuckers." Ty said. Ty shot two missiles out and they blew the Suns sky high but before Ty could admire his work the rocket launcher was kicked out of his hands and then it was followed by a fist hitting him hard in the face. He fell onto the barrier leading to the middle of the room and looked up, "Hello Ty you miss me." Jedore said. "Jedore you fucking bitch." Ty growled.

Jedore smirked before punching Ty in the gut as hard as she could manage and then punching him in the face again, "After I'm done with you three I'm going to get my un-beatable army of Krogan and show the Universe that my Blue Suns are the biggest threat." Jedore said. "Over my dead body will you leave this room alive." Ty growled again. He could feel all of his anger and all of his hate thriving in his veins as his need to kill her became intoxicating, this was the moment where she would pay for everything she did and Ty would taste the revenge he had a dying thirst for.

Jedore punched Ty again but before she could do it again or Ty could get back in the fight a gun shot went off, Jedore looked up and saw Shepard and Jack aiming at her, "Ty we have a clear shot on her let us kill her and end this once and for all." Shepard said. He began to speak up but he heard EDI in his comm "Shepard the power is back on but there are poisonous gases filling up the room Okeer is in, if you hurry you might be able to save him." EDI said. "Go get Okeer he is your reason here so don't waste your bullets on this bitch." Ty said. Jedore laughed again, it sent icy chills up his spine and Ty hated being cold, "They'll be dead soon as I'm done with you you're only sparing them a couple seconds Ty." Jedore said.

Ty ignored her as he looked at Shepard and said "Go get Okeer Shepard I'll be fine, trust me." Shepard looked from Ty to Jedore quickly then nodded at Ty before turning away "Jack lets go before Okeer is dead." Shepard said starting to jog away. _Thank you Shepard,_ Ty thought. Ty looked back at Jedore as he began getting his footing ready for his strike "Now where were we, oh yea un-finished business." Ty pushed himself off the barrier and slammed a left punch into her stomach following it with a right uppercut that slammed into Jedore's jaw and knocked her to the ground.

Jedore scrambled back to her feet but Ty could see in her eyes she was still dazed by the punch "Looks like someone got an upgrade since we last fought." Jedore said and then spat blood to the ground. "Happens when Garm blows your arm almost off and Tarak shoots a missile at you, now come on lets see what you got." Ty said as they started walking in a circle waiting for a good moment to strike.

Jedore as usual was the first to move forward and throw a left jab which Ty blocked to the side but she followed it with a right kick which she landed. The kick landed horizontally into his gut but Ty didn't allow himself to stumble as he grabbed her leg which was about to leave him and slammed his right elbow into the side of her knee where the armor was thinner. Jedore grunted in pain as she twisted herself so her knee was facing up, Ty telegraphed the move since he had trained her to do it so as she attempted to kick him in the head with her left foot he pushed her foot away from him.

She was agile enough to twist herself so she landed on her left foot only to turn around and throw a fake right punch making Ty block it away and leave himself open for the left that landed into his sternum making him bend over slightly letting her knee slam into his chest next knocking him back up. She had been training for this it seemed but as she threw another punch Ty caught it, he was satisfied with her ability to hit him a few times but now bored of her attacks, it was time to get his revenge "I see you've been practicing I'd say I'm impressed since you were never one to practice what you learned but I'm not since I've been holding back to see how good you truly are, I'm not impressed." "I think you were more impressed by me killing all your friends." Jedore said with a sick smile.

A burning pain filled through Ty's body as he felt his heart be torn from him once again, _"Everyone to the escape pods!" Ty heard Carson's, his Turian pilot, flanged voice as if he was right next to him. Female screams followed it as more explosions were heard, "Come on Whitney hold on!" Brad yelled. "Don't die on my account go!" Whitney yelled back._ Ty shook his head as he tried to clear the thoughts from his mind only to be reminded when he saw Jedore's smile turn into a grin, "That's just precious you stil-" Ty punched her hard in the face knocking her onto the ground, "You are going to pay for what you did." Ty growled.

Jedore got on her knees and Ty saw a familiar shine around Jedore's neck, it was Haley's necklace the one he gotten her after he killed all the Suns, it was a sleek rope that was sterling silver with a sterling silver pendent in the shape of a tear drop with an eagle in the center facing to the right with a turquoise gem in the top left and a red gem in the bottom right. "That necklace doesn't belong to you, where is she?" Ty asked angrily. Jedore laughed slightly and said "Who cares? I sure as hell don't, Tarak just gave it to me as a souvenir from our past venture. I think he thought it would be funny to give away all your pretty little bitches things."

Anger surged through Ty's body as he punched her in the face hard and then as she recovered he kicked her in the face making her fall backwards, "Both him and Jason are dead if you haven't heard yet and you'll join those pieces of shit soon enough for what you all did." Jedore's face was bloody but she laughed as she pushed herself to her knees once again, "Oh so that was you helping Archangel and probably your brother who put Jason's body on display at one of our bases on Omega, I should've guessed I was next on the list."

Jedore spat blood onto the ground near Ty's feet but she looked back up to him and said "You know what's funny Ty I can see in your eyes that you are losing all control just like you did on Omega. You're becoming what you hate, the very thing you swore to her that you would not become but here you are betraying them al-" Jedore was cut off by Ty kicking her in the face then picking her up and slamming her against a tank, she pushed the wrong button and she was going to suffer for it. Ty began punching her hard with his left hand repeatedly. "I…AM NOT…BETRAYING THEM!" Ty yelled as he punched her.

He was losing control of his anger as he was wailing blow after blow to her but he suddenly stopped and said angrily "You fucking ratted us out and killed all of my fucking friends and all these years later after Omega all I have is one question and that is the only reason you are still alive." "The un-finished business, what is your question than you fucking prick?" Jedore asked. Her face was barely recognizable under all the blood, even her blonde hair was turning red. "Why did you do it?! There were innocent women and children on that ship being sold into slavery just like you almost were! The Blue Suns weren't slavers, my squad was not slavers but you killed them all anyway while I was on the planet with the civilians, why did you kill them?!" Ty asked. Jedore laughed and said "They? Face it Ty you didn't give a damn about your little squad, you lied to them and would have disregarded them completely if you had the choice."

If it was possible to feel your blood boiling than Ty was pretty sure that was exactly what he was feeling as he punched her almost as hard as he could in the face with his right arm, "FUCK YOU! They were my friends and you fucking killed them all." Ty yelled and punched her again before continuing "You stole everything I held dear from me! You stole my very essence of life and have made everyday I have lived on a living fucking hell to the point I have just wanted to end my own pathetic existence! WHY!"

Jedore coughed up blood then said "To get at you for what you did to me. You took a year of my life for what, absolutely fucking nothing Ty. I was your best student and I adored you." Ty's jaw nearly dropped off as he said in astonishment "That's why you killed them all because I didn't fuck you." "You trained me for a year straight and after it was over you just moved on like I meant nothing to you, I adored you so much and you just acted like I was a nothing so when Tarak told me his plan I thought what better way to get payback then kill all your frien-" Jedore was cut off by Ty punching her again, "YOU KILLED THEM BECAUSE I DIDN'T FUCK YOU!" Ty started punching her as hard as he could with his right hand and he continued screaming as loud as he could letting out every bit of anger seep into each blow as he hit her "YOU STUPID FUCKING SELF CENTERED BITCH, GO..TO...FUCKING...HELL...YOU...FUCKING...CUNT!"

Punch after punch continued to cave in Jedore's face completely as she slumped to the ground but Ty followed her down with uppercuts, she was dead but Ty's emotions had exploded. He grabbed her by her throat and picked her up only to grab her face as he began slamming it against the pod repeatedly until he finally grabbed her by the collar of her armor and threw her across the ground away from him. Each punch he had connected with had splattered more blood across him until his hand was literally covered in blood and his face from his chin to his forehead had many splatters of blood that ran down his face covering it.

Head to toe there wasn't a part of his body that didn't have some blood on it but he didn't care he just learned his friends were all killed because he didn't screw Jedore. Ty stared at his blood covered hands as his body started to shake uncontrollably, he couldn't contain his emotion any longer, "You killed them all because I didn't fuck you." Ty said under his breath in anger and disbelief. "_Come on Tara ru-AHHH!" Valera, an Asari screamed in pain. "Val-" Tara's voice was cut off by an explosion. _

Ty couldn't get the voices out of his head and it made his breathing become faster and sharper, the pain was overwhelming but he heard a dying breath from Jedore's body but swore he heard her voice in it "Betrayer." It was but a whisper that Ty heard though he wasn't sure if it was real or not. Ty spun around to the body and pulled his pistol out in a fluid motion taking aim on her body hoping she was still alive as he started shooting her body until his pistol ran out of ammo and stopped firing.

As he put his pistol away Ty saw Shepard and Jack standing a small distance away from him though he wasn't sure how long they had been there for, where Okeer was or if they were waiting for him to finish and walk over or they were afraid he'd snap on them. He knew he wouldn't ever hurt them but he understood their caution but Ty didn't go back to them just yet. He walked over to Jedore's body and knelt down to it and put his hand around Haley's necklace, it was covered in Jedore's blood but the shiny parts it had at the moment brought a slight light to him in his dark cloud right now.

There was still hope she was still alive, still hope he wouldn't fuck up and he'd be able to save her. He unhooked the necklace and said to himself "This didn't belong to you bitch." Ty looked at the pendent and rubbed his thumb across the pendent smearing the blood off of the eagle on it, "I'm coming Haley just hold on." Ty whispered to the pendent. Ty felt a hand on his shoulder then he heard Shepard's calm comforting voice, "Come on Ty we gotta get out of here." Ty nodded as he looked back at Jedore's body, it was bloody and broken and definitely would go down as not one of his finest moments.

Someone he once trained and considered an ally had betrayed him after he stopped what had almost happened to her as a child from happening to many other children and women, _"Ty if you're hearing this everyone has died and I'm trying to keep this ship flying a little longer to give you information. I got a read on the vessel, it was Jedore and I picked up comm chatter between her and Tarak. It was an honor fighting along side you and all of our friends, goodby-" Carson's voice was cut off as the ship crashed into the ground and more missiles exploded into it. _"Yea, I've had enough of this place." Ty said.

Back on the Normandy

Ty got out of the shuttle and asked "What are we going to do about the test tube Krogan we brought along?" Shepard stepped out behind him with a slightly concerned look on her face, Ty hadn't spoke on the ride back because he was trying to get his head back on straight after all the voices of his dead friends had made their way to the forefront of his mind. He didn't feel like himself, every breath that he inhaled smelt like his burning ship and every step he took felt like he was walking closer and closer to his ship even though he knew that it happened eight years ago. "Don't know yet but he's the perfect Krogan so I might keep him for the squad." Shepard said.

That got a chuckle out of Ty as Jack came walking out of the shuttle next, if Shepard could convince the Krogan than sure he would join but that depended on if the Krogan didn't decide to attempt killing everyone on the ship. "That's if he'll work with us, we should probably tell Miranda and Jacob they'll be ecstatic to hear about this." Ty said. Shepard smirked slightly as they all began walking towards the elevator, "You want to come see their reactions or you gonna go shower?" Shepard asked.

A shower was most needed right now for Ty, maybe it would help him get his head straight but if it didn't at least he could get all the blood off of himself. "Shower and then I don't know…I got a lot on my mind now." Ty said. "Understandable, Jack you think you'll be able to share the engineering floor with the Krogan?" Shepard asked. Jack smirked and said "He doesn't bother me I wont kill him." "Comforting to know we're gonna have a Krogan who's no doubtly a loose canon and the biotic god where are engines are." Ty said sarcastically.

All three got in the elevator and went up one floor where Jack got off at then the elevator went up another floor to where Ty's room was, the doors opened and as Ty walked out Shepard grabbed his arm stopping him and said "Everything that happened back there between you and Jedore, you can't blame yourself for it you know that right." Ty shook his head at her, "Shepard there's a lot you don't know about that happened when I was in the Blue Suns and after, I understand that you're just trying to help but what happened back there and in the past I've always blamed myself for, all Jedore did was confirm it for me."

It was Shepard's turn to shake her head at Ty though Ty wasn't going to have any of it, she knew enough to understand why he went off but she didn't know the whole story, "Ty yo-" Ty interrupted Shepard "Shep I trained her when she first came into the Suns, a whole year we were together where I trained her and taught her almost everything I knew. She never practiced anything I taught but she never needed to because she was a quick learner and a great student even though we were the same age. I learned during that time that she had almost been sold into slavery as a kid but the Blue Suns at the time had attacked the ship for credits but when they saw the slaves they let them go. She of all people should have understood what I did but she was the one who ratted us out and destroyed my ship with all my friends on it. She killed my-" Ty stopped himself from getting angry and took a deep breath then continued "Shepard she did it all because I didn't fuck her in that one year if that isn't my fault then I don't know what is, you gotta go talk to Miranda and Jacob and I gotta shower, I'll see you later."

Ty hit the button for her to go up then walked out before the doors shut and began walking towards his room as the doors closed, as he got to his door he heard a voice behind him, "What the hell happened to you?" Miranda asked. Ty looked down at his arms and shirt as he said "People got blood on me, Shepard's going up to talk to you so you should head up to CIC." "Okay…are you gonna be alright?" Miranda asked. Ty opened his doors and said "I'll survive it's what I'm best at."

Ty walked into his room and closed the doors behind him as he let out a deep breath. He pulled Haley's necklace out of his pocket and cleaned it off the best he could at the moment with one of the only clean areas on his shirt and then put it on his nightstand to re-clean later. He walked over to his table next and took off all of his guns and his tomahawks before walking into his bathroom. After he stripped out of his blood soaked clothes he got into to the shower and started washing off all of the Krogans and Jedore's blood which turned his shower floor red. As he finished washing his hair he watched as the blood went down the drain, he got the answer to his question but he was now faced with another, was it worth hearing the truth.

**A/N: And so more of Ty's past is revealed through this fight, will he get his head back in the game or will he finally succumb to all the pain. Well I guess the answer is quite obvious do to the prologue but still, I know this time period of the story is a bit darker due to Ty's very traumatizing past but it will become a slightly brighter story through everything that happens and there will be no crappy ending where he dies or offs himself because that is to sad of a story for me to tell. I'm a sucker for happy endings and this story will have a happy ending. Anyway we are only at chapter ten of a very long journey through two games so no need to worry about the endings yet, I will see you next time.**


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Experimenting

**A/N: Usual disclaimer, I don't own the Mass Effect Universe, Bioware/E/A does, I stake claim in Ty and cos personalities that aren't apart of the Mass Effect Universe. On to the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Shepard stood in the CIC at the galaxy map as she thought about where to go next, probing planets had taken up a lot of her time but she needed the resources to upgrade the Normandy's armor and med-bay. Getting her new planet scanner had been her first objective since it cut her probing time from all day to most of the day. Shepard scanned through all the systems she could go check out, there wasn't really much for her to do now since she had cleared out all the systems they had and finished collecting the people for the mission. There was always that project Firewalker dossier she had gotten about Geth incursions, the Volcano Station, or the Survey Sites maybe that would provide her something to do while she waited for the Illusive Man to get back to her on what to do next.

Shepard sighed slightly as she set her destination for the fuel depot and then to the planet Lattesh in the Chomos system of the Phoenix Massing cluster. She didn't mind going to do the mission it was just the fact that she hadn't heard from the Illusive Man on taking the fight to the Collectors yet or getting more recruits that was getting to her, she hated to admit it but she was relying on the Illusive Man to get them some solid data to work with. As Shepard walked down the steps Kelly looked over to her with a concerning look as she asked "Commander may I speak with you?" Shepard nodded and said "Of course Kelly I always have time for my crew, what has taken your lovely smile away?"

Kelly blushed slightly as she looked to the side, Shepard knew her Yeoman had feelings for her but she couldn't resist making her blush now and then for all the flirting that Kelly did with her. It was just apart of her personality to flirt now and then but her heart still belonged to Kaiden, she missed him so much but she never allowed it to get her down. She had a new crew that she was getting to know and become friends with despite how much she wished she was still with her old crew. "I'm concerned about Ty, he hasn't left his room since you all came back from Korlus yesterday and you didn't mention in your report about what happened to him. You have seemed a little off since then as well and I know that waking Grunt up was physically trying but you were more excited than scared by it." Kelly stated.

Shepard was more than bothered by what happened on Korlus but it wasn't the blood covering Ty or what he had done to Jedore that had bothered her, she was used to seeing those type of things and compared to Akuze those images didn't bother her in the slightest. What had bothered her was seeing Jedore mentally and emotionally beat Ty, she had all the cards stacked in her favor because of what she had did and she used them to make sure that Ty felt even more like a failure then he already did. Shepard could see the look in his eyes when they talked about him losing his friends; she knew the look because she had seen it on her own face when she lost her squad on Akuze and then Ashley on Virmire.

Shepard wasn't sure about what to do to help him though, no amount of helpful words would ever be enough, no one could tell anyone when they had mourned enough that was something that only you as the mourner could decide. This was only the third time that Shepard had ever felt helpless when it came to her crew, the first being Akuze and the second being Ashley. She had always been able to help her crew through all of their tough times but this made her feel helpless, and she hated feeling helpless. "Kelly…there are some things no amount of words can solve." Shepard replied. "What happened Shepard?" Kelly asked worry in her tone.

Kelly never ceased to amaze Shepard with how caring she could be no matter who it was they were talking about, "The Blue Suns leader down there, Jedore, had history with Ty. She ratted him out and killed eight of his friends all because he didn't have sex with her in the year that he trained her, or at least that's why she said she did it and Ty…lost it." Shepard said. "Did he kill her?" Kelly asked. "That's one way of putting it, I'll spare you the details but it was pretty gruesome. I don't think I've ever seen someone lose it so badly on someone but after it was over he just stayed quiet the rest of the trip back. Before he went to his room I tried to make him understand it wasn't his fault that she killed them all but I was less than successful…I wish there was something I could do to help him, I hate it when I can't help my crew."

There was a person behind all the Alliance propaganda and he wasn't heartless, he had a heart that had been ripped from his chest and never put back and now he was just a lost wandering soul trying to find meaning in living again. Shepard shook her head trying to shake the thought from her mind; he wasn't going to remain lost if she had any say. No man was ever left behind and she intended to bring him back from whatever depths he was in, no matter what. Shepard looked back to Kelly who had a slight smirk on her face as she said "You have the look of a woman who is about to spearhead her way through any obstacle in her way." Shepard smirked and said "So I have been told...I don't know what I'm going to do yet but I'm going to figure it out. Take care Kelly." "You to Shepard." Kelly said as she turned around. _No one gets left behind._

* * *

It had been a day since Ty killed Jedore and he hadn't stopped thinking about it or been able to stop the memories of his crew dying from flooding in. Killing her wasn't the issue he had; she needed to die for everything she had done and all the pain she caused but what he was not happy at all about was her reason behind killing everyone. The very thought of what she said made Ty clench his hands into fists and want to punch the wall, all because he wouldn't get in a bed with her she killed them. Hell he would've been more acceptant to "they betrayed the Blue Suns" instead of because HE didn't sleep with HER, he had never even thought about her in that way.

As Ty laid on his back and stared at the stars he thought about Korlus more, a lot of the same things that had been making his blood boil flooded back into his mind from Jedore's laugh to her last dying breath or what Ty thought was her last dying breath. "Betrayer" the voice had whispered, had he betrayed his friends by going on this revenge mission and almost losing complete control of everything that made him who he was? Had he abandoned his code for revenge and anger to become the only things he believed in anymore? No he hadn't betrayed his code or his friends but he could feel his anger taking hold in him again.

His anger brought out a bad side of him, so bad that he began referring to it as his demon because it was like something was possessing him and changing him. He knew that it was just himself losing his temper but his temper did change him and it always felt like an evil spirit entered his body when he did, like a thousand cold knives plunging into his skin. Ty sat up in his bed and brought his hands to his face_, I need to get control of my demon now before I go back down that road again,_ Ty thought. He had lost all control a few years after his friends died and didn't come out of it until 2182 after being around his favorite Japanese kleptomaniac; _I need to do something like work on my bike to keep my mind away from it._

Ty got out of bed and walked up to EDIs platform and said "EDI can you hear me." EDI popped up and said "Yes Mr. Rhoddy I can hear you." "Any idea if we have a mission today?" Ty asked. "Shepard has set a course for the planet Lattesh in the Chomos system of the Phoenix Massing Cluster, why do you ask?" _Why the hell are we going out there,_ Ty thought. Though he was curious he pushed his curiosity away as he asked "EDI can I tell you something and have you tell anybody?" "Yes Mr. Rhoddy I can." EDI said. "Alright can you tell Shepard, Jack, Miranda, Garrus and Jacob if they are looking for me I'll be down in the cargo hold working on my bike." Ty said. "I will inform them Mr. Rhoddy and if you need anything while you are working all you need to do is ask." EDI said. Ty nodded and said "Thanks EDI I'll see you down there than."

After brushing his hair back and pony tailing the crown of his hair he put his hood up and walked out of his room to the elevator to which he got in and went down to the cargo hold to keep his mind off of Jedore and everything that happened. He leaned his back against the wall and rested his head against the wall,_ focus on the good not the bad, I'll save Haley and make everything right, I will not fuck up again,_ Ty thought. After contemplating connecting his omni-tool to the circuits of the elevator to try and speed it up the doors opened letting Ty walk out and towards his parked space bike which was near the right desk near the elevator.

Ty got to his bike and took his tank top off and put it in his pocket since he had just cleaned it and his shorts the other day of all the blood that was on it and didn't want to get anything on them for a while. As he stared at his bike he contemplated what he could do, he didn't know what he could even do with his bike anymore aside from regular maintenance because of all the things he had already maxed out on it. He also didn't want to get zapped for trying to do more to something he couldn't do more to so that was another point towards regular maintenance but he knew himself well enough that he'd find something to add onto his bike.

As he knelt down next to it he looked up at the console and said "Hey EDI can you hear me." EDI popped up behind on it and said "Yes Mr. Rhoddy what can I help you with?" "Two things, first off just call me Ty, when you call me Mr. Rhoddy it makes me feel older and two is there a radio down here or something I can use for music?" Ty asked. "You can access music on this console which allows you to play music from an assortment of recent and past artists." EDI said.

Ty raised and eyebrow slightly as he got up and walked over to the console, after looking over the buttons he found the one he was looking for and said "Thanks EDI you're the best." "Thank you Ty." EDI said. Ty sifted through the recent artists but found nothing that he wanted to listen to at the moment so he began going through music from the twenty first century until he found a rock group he had grown to like since he searched the music, they had more than a few albums he liked so he selected all of them and hit play before returning to his bike to start working.

Four Hours Later

Ty had been experimenting on his bike trying to tweak its speed and jump speed to a ridiculous level but it hadn't been working out and he had gotten zapped by the circuits a couple times until he finally just stopped touching the circuits because he figured that was his bikes way of telling him no. He was having fun though working on his bike and listening to an older band from the last century and he had it on loud enough that he figured the whole ship could probably hear it. The music was good even to this day he didn't care if it had come out before they found the Prothean technology. Ty was kneeling down next to his bike putting things back together as he was hummed along with the singer when his loud music turned to silence, Ty chuckled slightly and said "Well I guess it was only a matter of time till someone got sick of it and came down here to turn it down." "What are you doing?" Jack asked looking curiously at him.

Ty grabbed a screw driver and started putting the screws that held some of the new equipment he had just installed that would be bad to let others know about back into his bike, "Well at this exact moment I'm putting my bike back together after basically tearing it apart but otherwise I had been trying to re-tweak the speed of this thing and try to get the jump speed faster even though its already fast." Ty said. "Your work has been successful thus far Ty, you have been slightly electrocuted a few times but the installation you had me monitoring has been successful." EDI answered. Jack laughed slightly and said "Well well the sarcastic dick got himself electrocuted." Jack said. Ty chuckled and said "Yeah yeah laugh it up all you want but when you've created your own space faring vehicle from scratch and make it faster than and more maneuverable than most vessels than you'll understand why I get electrocuted. So aside from turning down my music how come you came down here 'cause it obviously wasn't to chat about mechanic shit."

Ty finished screwing the stuff in and walked to the other side of his bike and started putting some of the stuff together, Jack sat down on a crate and finally got a good glimpse of Ty's scarred body to which she replied "Damn and I thought your tank top was fucked up." "Thanks for the compliment Jack." Ty said with a smirk. "No problem, so how you been dealing with everything that happened back on Korlus?" Jack asked. "Don't really want to talk about it but since you asked I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened." Ty asked. "She was a bitch and you killed her, it doesn't bring them back but at least you avenged them." Jack said. "I'm not done yet, there is still one person alive who had a hand in it." Ty said as he stood up and went to the front of his bike.

Jack raised an eyebrow as she asked "Who?" "A Batarian who was the one who gave her location away, his name is Scrum and is a leader of a section of the Blue Suns. I'll take a wild guess and say he's the one who owns the base on Illium; Tarak wouldn't have trusted Haley to anyone else." "So you have been hunting these bastards down for what they did to your friends?" Jack asked. Ty nodded and said "Yep but not just them, I've taken down their businesses, their friends, and anyone who supported them. I saved the ones who cost me everything for last so when I struck them down they would have nothing left." "Damn your one vicious bastard." Jack said with a laugh. "Trust me what happened down on Korlus was barely a taste of how vicious I can be, I lost my temper down there, when I lose control of everything is when bad shit happens."

Ty stood up and wiped his hands off on his shorts but as he did he wanted to slap himself since he hadn't wanted to get anything on his shorts. _Crap now I gotta wash these again, ah fuck it who cares,_ Ty thought. Ty looked over to Jack who had a look of intrigue and mischief on her face as she asked "What kind of bad shit?"_ Ah crap sometimes I just need to shut my damn mouth_, Ty thought. He didn't want to talk about the bad things he was capable of doing because the memories of himself under the intoxication of blood lust was not a happy time for him to remember. Ty shook his head as he said "I don't want to talk about it Jack the last thing I need is to lose control I hope you can just take that and understand it."

Jack didn't look satisfied with his answer but she nodded regardless and said "Okay. One last thing before I go I'm trying to find a location but I need some help." Jack said. "Need me to read files for you?" Ty asked with a raised eyebrow. He hoped he didn't have to read files, especially Cerberus files "No I want you to look at my past and see if you can pin point it for me." Jack said. _Oh no. No, no, no, no, no I am not doing that again_, Ty thought. "I told you Jack that's not how it works." Ty said with a shrug of his shoulders. "No you said you needed specifics to do it and I can give you specifics." Jack said.

Ty sighed, _damn me for putting myself in a corner,_ Ty attempted one last time to get out of it "Jack I don't know if I can do it or how I'd do it its not as simple as finding out who shot someone besides I thought you didn't want me in your head." Ty said. Jack smirked and stood up than walked over to Ty and said "True I don't want you to get in my head but this is the only exception I'll make so maybe you can experiment with your power and try and see exactly what I'm looking for." She was either going to try use sex as a bargaining tool or physically beat the crap out of him until he did, not liking either option due to the complications in their friendship it would cause Ty shook his head and said "Fine I'll try but I'm not paying for therapy if something goes wrong." Ty sat on a crate cross legged and said "Stand in front of me and look into my eyes even if I close them."

Jack walked in front of Ty and her brown eyes stared at him as Ty's purple eyes looked directly into hers, the eyes of a person held were the direct access to their memories but he could also access the memories through touch but he chose her eyes and let his mind reach out and to hers as he focused on protecting his mind from hers and her mind from his. A persons mind was their temple and if he forced himself in or didn't put up any defenses he could break the person, not something he wanted to do to anyone especially Jack who more than likely still would be able to kill him afterwards.

He began feeling the energy from her memories so he closed his eyes and let his mind enter the energy as he accessed her memories, as he opened his eyes the room changed into a desolate room with a window looking out to another room where children were though for Jack all she saw was his eyes turn completely purple, "Did it work?" Jack asked. Ty saw a young child beating against the glass window who he immediately knew was Jack based on her eyes, younger Jack just continued to beat her hands against the glass and scream at all the other kids, Ty couldn't stand seeing it but he was there now and Jack needed his help so he was stuck with it, "I don't know what I'm looking for but I see a younger you and I beginning to hate that I did this. This may feel weird but no matter what happens Jack do not take your arm away from me alright." Ty said.

Before Jack could respond Ty grabbed her arm and his vision became her vision, as Jack entered the memory with him she began looking around seeing Ty now standing next to her instead of sitting and he still had his hand holding her arm, "Jack is this where they kept you?" Ty asked. Jack looked around in awe as she said "This was my room." Ty shook her arm slightly to bring her attention back to him as he said "Jack don't try walking around if you do I can't find what you are looking for." "How is this possible?" Jack asked. "My mind can access anyone's memories and when I visit them I get to stand sideline to it all like we are. If we are looking for the name of this place than give me a second I have to focus." "What are you going to do?" Jack asked. "Access the memory of this place through your memory, the rooms might go by really fast so don't freak out and let go." Ty said. "Are you sure you've never done this before?" Jack asked skeptically.

He had done it more than a fair amount of times but the cost in the end had always been painful, each person he had done this with that died caused him serious pain and those who let go before he was ready left him with a lovely side effect, "I've done it before I just don't like doing it which is why I'm telling you not to let go of me." Ty said. "What happens that you don't like?" Jack asked. "You'll see now hold on I gotta focus." Ty said.

Ty focused all his mental ability on the lingering memory imprint that the place had from Jacks memory, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack until he found something though he wasn't sure what it was. As he honed in on it the rooms started going by really fast until they were standing at a terminal with a man recording himself, most of the information he was talking about Ty didn't understand but then he said "The Teltin Facility so far has come up with interesting results but we will need more test subjects so if we can get more children sent to Pragia that would help to continue our tests for biotic advancement." "Motherfuckers." Jack responded with anger as she tried to go after the guy.

Ty kept a firm grip on her arm as he shifted the memory away and to his own of being on his ship by himself in his quarters as he read over reports. He needed to get out of the memory before his old friend Tara came up to his room but he also had to talk to Jack while she wasn't completely pissed off because of how important the next step was, "What the fuck?" Jack asked in confusion. "I didn't want you to let go because of what happens so I brought you to one of my memories." Ty answered. Before he could speak Jack looked around him to see the younger him, age fourteen to be exact, he still had his long hair, his outdated fashion sense and all his tattoos except for his back tattoo, "Is that you?" Jack asked.

Ty looked back over at himself taking in the young and innocent version of himself, he missed those days but he couldn't dwell on it, "Yeah nine years ago, listen we aren't here to watch this memory so before we leave this memory I have something's I need you to do for me. First off I'll need you to sit me up against this crate and then I'll need you to get EDI to get Chakwas to check my vitals to make sure I'm still alive and if I am then just leave me, I'll wake up. The last thing I need you to do is be clear to tell them I knew what I was doing and it wasn't your fault and that I usually stay knocked out for thirty minutes and then I'm fine with no side affects alright." Ty said. Jack looked at him with confusion as she asked "Wait you mean you go unconscious after you do this?" Jack asked. "Only when I join minds with someone, I haven't got control of it yet so I go unconscious. You ready to do what I said?" Ty asked. "Yea, are you sure this is safe?" Jack asked. "Hey Ty what are you doing?" Tara asked as she walked in. Ty smirked slightly seeing the lithe Asari again but looked at Jack and said "Nope but no other way, see ya later Jack."

Ty let go of Jack and as he did he started getting black circles in his vision and sounds were more distant, Ty tried fighting it as long as he could being able to get off the crate and sit himself down against the crate as Jack was talking to EDI. The blackness soon was in almost all his vision when suddenly he saw Jack kneel down next to him "The doc is on her way, don't die Ty or I'll kick your ass understand." Jack said. Ty gave a final chuckle and said "Is that care in your voice Jack I told you I can't have a re…lation…ship." Ty blacked out into the abyss.

Forty Minutes Later

"Hold on he's coming to, Mr. Rhoddy can you hear me?" Chakwas asked_. Man I hate this feeling, _Ty thought as he began blinking quickly as he came to in the cargo hold, "Doc just call me Ty it makes me feel older hearing myself be called Mr. Rhoddy." Ty said. Ty got his eye sight back and he saw Chakwas kneeling next to him and Jack, Miranda, and Shepard standing behind her, "How are you feeling?" Chakwas asked. "I'm good Chakwas just a little light headed, Jack you feel fine right no side affects for you?" Ty asked. Jack shook her head and said "Nope I'm good." Ty nodded and said "Good than everything is fine." Ty pushed himself against the box and onto his feet then Miranda said "Maybe we should have Chakwas run some tests on you to find out the source of your power so something like this doesn't happen again."

Ty chuckled slightly, after seeing the shit he had through Jack's memories the last thing he wanted was to have a test, especially if Cerberus was involved. "I know why it happened it's 'cause my mind isn't strong enough to join with another and not pass out afterwards from mental exhaustion." "Joining minds? Like the Asari melding?" Shepard asked in surprise. Ty shrugged slightly and said "Yeah kind of but I'm not an Asari, my skin complexion is way to tan and I know for a fact I'm not female. You really didn't believe anything about my abilities did you? I know it sounds crazy for a human so I guess I understand why you would doubt it, anyway I let her see what I saw I've done this a plentiful amount of times and each time I can fight the blacking out longer, not much longer but it still counts." "Alright it sounds like you have it figured out than, everyone else back to your stations." Shepard said.

Everyone nodded and Miranda and Chakwas turned to leave but Shepard stopped Ty as he began to walk and grab for his tank top at the same time "If you need anything let me know I don't like seeing my crew suffer." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "Alright, I'll get through it but if I need anything I'll let you know." Ty said. Shepard nodded and jogged to catch up with Chakwas and Miranda as Ty put his tank top back on and the hood up. After he shut off his music completely he headed over to the elevator where only Jack stood apparently waiting for him, Ty got to the doors and said "You didn't want to ride with the princess I take it." Jack smirked and said "Fuck no I'd kill the cheerleader."

Ty smirked but than stopped as the sight of a young Jack banging her hands against a glass window flashed through his mind, a grim reminder that he wasn't the only one who got screwed out of a regular childhood. "You sure you're alright Jack?" Ty asked. Jack shrugged and said "I'm fine besides I know what I'm looking for now so I'll have my destination soon enough…Thanks for doing all that to help me." "You're welcome but I'm sure I didn't have a choice, you were going to use force to persuade me to help you I bet." Ty said. "Eh maybe." Jack said with a smirk. Ty smiled and said "That or you would try to use your lovely feminine charm on me also known as flashing your tits and ass to get what you want." Jack laughed and said "Maybe." "It wouldn't have worked." Ty said joining in with her laugh. "Why?" Jack asked. "I'm not your regular guy if you haven't noticed, doesn't matter how much you flash me your tits and ass I don't fall for that game." Ty said. Jack smirked and said "You'd be surprised how many guys fall for it." "No I wouldn't be I've seen my fair share to know." Ty said as the doors to the elevator opened.

Ty and Jack got in and Ty hit the buttons for their floors, and waited as the elevator brought them up one floor. The doors opened and Jack said "I'll see you around Ty and…well you know thanks." Ty chuckled and said "You're welcome and Jack I know you don't want a friend and you were just using me to help you but if you ever need someone to talk just get EDI to get me." "Don't get all mushy with me now because I needed your help." Jack said. "I'll still be a sarcastic dick Jack I'm just saying if you need a shoulder to punch or someone to use your biotics to throw or a guy to scream at who can take it all I'll be up a floor." Ty said with a smirk. Jack smirked slightly and said "Whatever you say Ty, I'll see ya around." Jack said. "See ya Jack." Ty said then shut the doors

**A/N: And yet another chapter done, go team! Anywho next chapter up is New Horizons and I'll leave you with that. A big thank you to all you readers out there and the 7 followers and 4 favs I think the numbers were, you guys/girls rock. Not much else to say so I will see you next time.**


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

New Horizons

**Disclaimer/A/N: I don't own the Mass Effect Universe, Bioware/E/A does, I only stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who aren't apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe. Onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

"_Hey Ty you got a minute?" Darian asked as he walked into Ty's quarters. Ty sat up on his bed as he saw Darian walk in, "Hey Darian, what's going on?" Ty asked. His lieutenant had a data-pad in his hand and looked troubled by something and the fact that he just walked into his room without calling up made Ty wonder what was eating at him. Ty had an open door policy with his crew so he wasn't opposed to them just walking in but Darian had a habit of calling Ty right before coming up despite Ty always telling him to just walk in. Darian shifted his weight from his right foot to his left foot and continued to go back and forth for a few seconds until Ty began to feel uncomfortable as well, "Darian what the fuck is going on?" Ty asked sternly. "We just got a mission from the Suns." Darian started but then stopped. "Okay?" Ty asked trying to get Darian to spit it out. "They want us to…ahem take out a thresher maw nest." Darian said and cleared his throat a few more times._

_The words didn't register in Ty's brain at first, "Wait what?" Ty asked. __**I must have heard him wrong**__, Ty thought. "Tarak wants us to take out a…thresher nest." Darian repeated. __**What?**__ "Are you fucking joking?" Ty asked in a serious tone. Darian shook his head and handed Ty the data-pad, "I wish I was." Darian said. Ty looked over the data-pad quickly seeing that there was a bunch of resources that the Suns wanted located in the territory of the thresher nest and they wanted Ty and his friends to clear it out so they could get the resources. A few moments of silence passed between the two until Darian asked "Are we going to pass this along to someone else?" Ty hated himself for what he was about to say but if Tarak was asking him to do it then he didn't think any one else could, "No set a course for the planet, Tarak doesn't ask me for anything unless he thinks no one else can do it and we are technically apart of his merc band still." Ty said. "Despite all of us getting rid of the tattoos except you?" Darian asked._

_Ty rubbed the back of his neck where his tattoo was, they all voluntarily got rid of their tattoos and replaced them with what had become their own special symbol, Ty looked at Darian's neck and saw the tomahawk and sniper in an X form with the barrel of the sniper pointing up and the blade of the tomahawk in the shape of Ty's with it facing out. "We pledged our loyalty to you not them." Darian said noticing where Ty's eyes were looking. "I know…round the crew up to the CIC we'll talk about it there. If majority votes no then we won't do it." "We don't owe the Blue Suns anymore than you have already given Ty, if this is our mission then I say let it be our last mission for them so we can all go about our business without Tarak looking over our shoulder." Darian said. Ty handed him the data-pad and said "It's not that simple." "You don't owe them anything." Darian repeated. "It's not about owing them anything Darian, if we just leave they'll come after us and I will not see all of you hurt or killed by them." Ty said. "All I'm saying is just give it some thought, we have made our own way for the last year only doing Blue Suns shit once every few months, we don't need them." Darian said._

_As much as Ty agreed with him he stayed quiet and got off of his bed, "We'll all talk about it downstairs, Gallick has been a Sun for years an-" "He burned off the tattoo and got the new one because you treated him better than the Suns ever would." Darian interrupted. "I'll talk it over with the crew and think about it myself okay?" Ty asked. Darian nodded and Ty motioned him to follow him, "Come on lets go tell the crew about our lovely vacation to hell." Ty said. "I'm sure it will go fine." Darian said. "Famous last words Darian, famous last words." Ty said as they exited his room and got in the elevator._

* * *

As the memory faded Ty sat up in bed and looked around,_ god damn I should have listened to them, _Ty thought as he rubbed the back of his neck where the Blue Suns tattoo still was. Part of him wanted to burn it off, another part told him to cut it out just to inflict a severe amount of pain to himself for not listening to his friends while they were alive. The only reason it was still on him was because despite the pain it had brought him in the end it was still a chapter of his life that had some good in it, even before his crew burned theirs off they had created a lot of great memories and that tattoo was a reminder of those good memories despite what the symbol stood for.

It had been two days since he had joined his mind with Jack and since then he had relied on meditation to lock away the memories that had surfaced and to keep the thoughts of Jedore out of his mind. It had worked but it required him to separate himself from the rest of the squad for the two days once again not leaving his room. Shepard had attempted to visit a few times and they talked shortly about "the goings of the outside world" as she put it letting him know what the crew was up to and trying to get him to come out. He didn't enjoy telling her no but he had to stay focused on getting his demon under control since if he lost control bad things would happen.

He didn't full out ignore her though he listened to her and talked about the missions themselves but Shepard could tell he wasn't completely focused on her so she would always respectfully dismiss herself. She had been going out with the other squad members to do little side missions to pass the time while they waited for the Illusive Man to get back to them on what to do next and she ended up getting a "new toy" as Ty put it and to torture Garrus and Miranda with not only her driving but the blistering cold where they had to use the M-44 Hammerhead to collect some stuff for something she called Project Firewalker while the cold was chilling her engines. Her toy that she had gotten was some experimental gun called an Arc Projector that Shepard had been all giddy about since she had taken out four mechs with one shot while investigating a shuttle crash.

The other fun she had aside from going down to the freezing cold planet of Lattesh with the Hammerhead, though Ty was thankful he had been voluntarily out of it because he hated the cold, was bringing them out to the Hawking Eta cluster into the Verr system to the planet Corang to do more for the Project Firewalker mission this time bringing Grunt, who Ty hadn't met yet, and Jacob down with her to recover more data for the project. The funny part for Ty was the fact because of all the jumping around the Hammerhead did Grunt ended up tagging the back of the Hammerhead with puke. Needless to say Project Firewalker was on hold while the cleaning crew cleaned up the Hammerheads interior.

That had Ty laughing for a good minute without stopping, it took a lot to get a Krogan to puke but Shepard had succeeding and making the poor guy lose his lunch with her driving. That gave Ty more incentive to avoid getting in any vehicle that she was driving. Ty got out of bed with a slight smirk due to thinking about Shepard's terrible driving making a Krogan puke, maybe today would turn out to be a good day without something bad happening. Ty had hope for that as he made his way into his personal bathroom to shower and get cleaned up before he got back into the world of the living.

After Ty had got out of the shower and finished his routine of brushing his hair and getting clothed in his burnt tank top, clam diggers and shoes he walked up to his window and looked out into space. A smile crept its way to his face as he admired the beauty of all the stars out there; there was something about the stars and the black abyss that was so beautiful. As Ty stood there he saw a blue hologram in the reflection of the mirror followed by EDIs synthesized voice, "Ty, Shepard has requested your presence in the Comm room and wants you to be armed." EDI said.

Well he did want to get back into the world of the living and what better way to do that than go on a mission, hopefully one that didn't involve Shepard's driving. "Tell her that I can't be summoned like some pet and I'll be there as soon as the elevator gets there." Ty said as he turned around. "Is that a joke?" EDI asked. Ty smirked to himself and said "Yea kinda, spend enough time talking to me and you'll learn a thing or two about human jokes and soon you'll be able to get Joker good." "Acknowledged." EDI responded. EDI disappeared and Ty walked over to his table and grabbed all his guns and his tomahawks putting them all in their holders before walking out of his room and into the elevator which took him up to CIC.

The elevator ride up didn't feel that slow but Ty's mind was preoccupied with getting ready to go on whatever mission Shepard was about to bring him on, after the doors opened Ty left the elevator and walked towards the Tech-lab door, as he was about there Kelly saw him walking by and said "Back from your solitude I see." Ty stopped and turned his head back and said "I had things I needed to put away in my mind so I could stay focused on the mission." "I was worried that you may never come out again." Kelly said with a smile but then continued "So are you better now?" That was a hard question because despite getting the memories locked away he knew that whenever he encountered Scrum he was more than likely going to explode, "Eh more or less I just put all the memories in a locked box in the back of my mind, metaphorically speaking. I won't say that I won't explode again but the only way it'll happen is if it's something extremely personal." Ty answered. "Well if you ever want to talk let me know, I don't know if it will help but it is always worth a try." Kelly said. "I'll consider it." Ty said as he walked through the door.

Ty walked through the tech-lab where Mordin was experimenting on a bug which made Ty scrunch up his face in disgust; he hated bugs almost as much as he hated the Blue Suns. Ty made his way into the Comm room where Shepard was standing in an orange hologram talking to someone, Ty looked around and saw Garrus checking his rifle over so he walked over to him and asked "Hey Garrus what's going on? Who she talking to?" Garrus looked up from his rifle and gave him a nod in greeting before he said "You finally made it back to the world of the living I see, and to think that was the cause of the peaceful silence."

Ty chuckled slightly and gave Garrus the finger since he couldn't think of a good comeback to which Garrus's mandibles helped give him a toothy grin before he motioned to Shepard with his head as he said "She's talking to the Illusive Man it sounds like the Collectors are about to attack another human colony."

Oh shit was one of Ty's first thoughts; this wasn't going to be some fun mission that involved Shepard's crappy driving making someone lose their lunch. This was about as serious as things got, the only thing that would be more serious than this was taking the fight to the Collectors home base and Ty wasn't even sure if they would find that. Ty nodded though; regardless of where the fight brought them he was going to be there. The Reapers and Collectors had to be stopped.

Ty put his back against the wall and leaned on it next to Garrus as he half heartedly listened to Shepard and the Illusive Man talking. Ty was slightly shocked that Shepard would bring him along for the mission since he hadn't exactly been out and about since Korlus but maybe she thought it would help, maybe it would Ty wasn't sure. "Well it's about time we get to bring the fight to the bastards; I guess that explains why she wanted me armed. Any other details you can give from this one sided conversation?" "Not really but I did hear Kaiden Alenko's name mentioned which may prove to be interesting." Garrus said.

Ty raised his eyebrow, _Alenko was apart of her original squad but why would that make this interesting, _Ty thought. "Whys that?" Ty asked. "Kaiden was on the original squad that took down Saren, on Virmire Shepard had to choose between him and another Alliance Solider named Ashley Williams and she chose him. It was hard for all of us losing Ashley because all of us had grown to trust and like each other but it hit Shepard the hardest since it was her choice. After that though Shepard and Kaiden grew close and became an item and were together up until she was spaced."

So the famous Commander Shepard actually did have a love life, Ty didn't know she had been with anyone due to the lack of publicity they had between the two. That made sense for why things would get interesting but before Ty could speak Garrus continued "She told me they haven't spoke since but I have a feeling there are still feelings there from both and if he's there and the Collectors are attacking it they may be going for him to get to her." Ty nodded understandingly and said "I see what you mean by interesting what about you did you like the guy." "I trusted him when we were on the original squad but it's been two years since then, we've all changed." Garrus said. "Think he'll join up?" Ty asked. "For Shepard's sake I hope he does." Garrus said. "But you doubt it?" Ty asked.

Before Garrus could answer the orange hologram disappeared and Shepard turned around and asked "Ty was Mordin working in there?" "Yea on some little creepy bug thing." Ty answered. "I hope he found something out." Shepard said as she walked past them out the door. Ty looked at Garrus and asked "We're fighting bugs?" "The bug is a seeker they stun colonies with a stasis field and the Collectors come and grab them without a fight." Garrus said. Ty shook a little, _why didn't I read up on the Collectors before joining,_ Ty thought. "I hate bugs." Ty said.

Garrus chuckled and walked out with Ty following behind him into the tech-lab where Mordin had an orange hologram of armor up, "Now I know mostly everyone wear's armor and has shields but I don't so how is this going to work?" Ty asked. "You have an omni-tool but not shields?" Shepard asked in a joking manor. "Shields are for pussies take a round like a man is what I've always said, seriously though how's this gonna work?" Ty asked. "Through your omni-tool we can make your cybernetic half invisible to the seekers." Mordin said. "And my human parts?" Ty asked. Mordin inhaled for a second then said "Injection."

It took a couple seconds for the word injection to register in Ty's head and when it finally did he dropped his head and said "Dammit." "You hate shots, bugs, and Blue Suns, do you like antique shops?" Garrus asked dryly. "Ha ha ha you're hilarious Garrus real mature." Ty said. "So you take rounds like a man but when shots get brought up yo-" Ty cut Shepard off and said "Don't even finish that." Shepard and Garrus were grinning at Ty's expense as Mordin walked away then came back with a shot that had a five inch needle on it and said "Left forearm please." Ty put his arm out and let Mordin give him the shot. It wasn't worse than any pain he had ever felt but he hated shots and he barely got them, the feeling of a sharp object penetrating his body just never sat well with him probably because of the feeling of knives stabbing his body when he lost control. After it was over Ty looked down at the hole in his arm that had medi-gel on it to seal the hole quicker, "I hope it gets through all my body right away otherwise you'll be carrying me in a stasis field." Ty said.

Mordin gave a light smile and said "May be good experiment." Shepard and Garrus suppressed laughs at Ty's look of are you screwing with me, "No." Ty said sternly. "You would not be able to argue." Mordin replied. "Yeah but I would be able to kick your ass after I got out of it." Ty said. Mordin brought his hand to his chin as he began talking to himself "Hmm, STG hand to hand skills are still good but he is known for being an expert in hand to hand…problematic." Ty smirked as Shepard said "Come on you two lets go save Horizon."

Ty and Garrus nodded then they all went down to the shuttle and got into it, they all sat in a comfortable silence as they waited for the Normandy to get above Horizon and for Joker to give them the all clear to fly down. After several minutes and a Mass Relay jump Ty was brought from his mental solitude by Jokers voice "Shepard we're in orbit above Horizon, good luck down there." Joker said. "Thanks Joker, we'll be back as soon as we're done kicking the Collectors asses." Shepard replied as the shuttle began to power up.

It didn't take much longer for the shuttle to power up and fly down to Horizon, "Well at least this thing fly's better than you would Shepard." Ty joked. "I'm not that bad!" Shepard replied defensively. "Grunts puke covering the Hammerhead says otherwise." Ty responded. "That wasn't my fault…completely…Garrus am I that bad?" Shepard asked. "I'm just going to stay out of this conversation." Garrus said. Shepard huffed a little in response but then the Kodiak landed and the doors opened letting everyone get out. As Ty looked up he saw the giant Collector ship for the first time, "Holy shit that's a one big ass ship man." Ty said.

Ty pulled out his Predator pistols and Garrus brought out his Vindicator assault rifle while Shepard equipped her Predator pistol and patched Mordin in, "These upgrades are going to make us invisible to the swarms right Mordin." "Certainty impossible but they should stop small groups from noticing you." "Should?" Garrus asked. "This field test will give me some results; look forward to seeing if you survive." Mordin said. "Seriously how did I end up the guinea pig for a Salarian's experiment?" Ty asked. "Well Shepard likes to do everything at least once. Take on a rogue spectre with an army of Geth at his finger tips to find out later that there is a bunch of giant sentient beings wanting to kill us all, sure why not, release the Rachni queen so they can try to repopulate, let's give them a chance." Garrus quipped. "Shhhhhhh we all swore secrecy." Shepard responded in a joking manor. "Oh right forgot, umm did I say Rachni I meant Vorcha." Garrus said.

Ty chuckled at the two as they got up the hill, he knew about the Rachni so he wasn't surprised by it. Garrus and Shepard made an interesting pair always bouncing jokes off one another, it reminded him of himself and Darian way back when they used to see each other everyday. Before Ty could reminisce on his own memories he saw, with his untrained eyes, a group of bugs came flying down, you have got to be kidding me. "Those are Collectors? Giant bugs are what we're trying to stop?" Ty asked as he took cover behind a pillar. Garrus took cover behind a low wall and Shepard took cover behind a pillar next to Ty, "Are you grossed out or offended?" Shepard asked as she shot a Collector in the head twice killing it. "Both." Ty said as he got out of cover and shot a Collector Assassin rapidly taking down its barrier than killing it. Garrus popped out of cover as Ty went back in and killed two Collectors with rapid shots then blew one off its feet with a concussive shot.

Ty got back out and shot two collectors killing them with multiple shots then Shepard hit the last two with a pull field and blasted them with two head shots. Ty kept his pistols out and looked around for more Collectors or anything else that might pop up as they left their cover and continued forward, "Bugs what the fuck, I was thinking of something more you know evil looking not something gross and disgusting that I squash with my foot." Ty said as they walked. "If you can squash a Collector with your foot Ty I'd be impressed since they are taking colonies of humans." Garrus said. "Which is why we are going to stop them. Come on lets find the rest of these things before they abduct the entire colony." Shepard said.

They walked a bit further but as they got near the prefab more Collectors popped up and this time they had new friends, they looked like grey and blue zombies to Ty but he didn't have time to ask what they were since they began to run at him. Thinking quickly Ty holstered his pistols and grabbed his tomahawks by their hilts and as the first got near him he pulled them out and slammed them into its face. More of what he began referring to in his mind as zombie things ran at him while Shepard and Garrus took out the Collectors, the first to reach Ty got a big kick in the chest knocking it onto the ground, as his foot came down a second came close to him and he shifted his weight as he swung his left tomahawk at it chopping its head clean off.

Ty threw his right tomahawk at a zombie that was running up about ten feet away nailing it square in the head then he pulled out his pistol and aimed at the zombie he had knocked down with two gunshots to the head. A Collector popped out of cover and as Ty aimed at it a blue orb hit it and it suddenly was a float, Ty began to retake aim but suddenly a strong force went flying by him and then suddenly collided with the Collector revealing Shepard coming out of a biotic charge and then pumping a round from her Katana shotgun into it. "Biotics are so cheaters!" Ty yelled to Shepard. "You are just jealous!" Shepard yelled back.

They had cleared the battlefield and Ty had retrieved his tomahawk that he threw while Shepard looked around finding credits and useful upgrades for her and the squad, Ty walked towards the exit where he found an already dead zombie thing. He kicked it over and knelt down next to it so he could examine it, he hadn't seen anything like this before and he had been on the Citadel during the attack but he had only saw Geth while he was fighting.

Shepard and Garrus joined him soon enough with Shepard joining him, "What the hell are these things?" Ty asked. "They're called Husks, the Geth would impale colonists on spikes and they'd turn into these things but these are different then the ones I fought before." Shepard answered. "They still die the same." Garrus said dryly. "I guess this proves that the Collectors are just agents of the Reapers since we haven't seen any spikes around." Ty said as he stood up. "Let's go save these colonists." Shepard said. "Right behind you Shepard." Garrus said.

They walked to the next area of the colony and Ty saw a bunch of pods lying around that looked kind of like cocoons but they were all empty or seemed empty. "Those are just creepy. I don't even want to imagine being stuck in one of those things at the mercy of these bugs." Ty said. As they got further up the hill more Collectors popped up and the squad all took cover where they could. "Garrus sniper fire, Ty with me." Shepard ordered. "Why don't I get to snipe?" Ty asked as he followed Shepard. "Some people can make it dance Ty." Garrus responded. "Hey Vakarian lets see you put your credits where your mouth is before I shoot them all." Ty retorted. "With pleasure." Garrus said.

Shepard and Ty took cover at a barrier connected to the prefab and Shepard looked to Ty as she said "I'll hit them with a pull then I want you to begin lighting them up." "Geez you Alliance types really know how to come up with complicated plans." Ty said sarcastically. Shepard smirked as she stood up and launched a pull field at the Collectors, Ty stood up with her and they both began lighting up the Collectors, Ty scored a head shot on the first Collector he saw floating helplessly, Garrus shot one of the floating Collectors and then Shepard began shooting at the grounded Collectors. With each volley of fire they took down more Collectors in the way and kept pushing forward until they ran into a colonist…or at least a frozen colonist. Ty walked around the colonist examining the poor guy who was stuck, "Trapped in a stasis field at the mercy of these bugs, that's a hard thing to go through and not easy to walk away sane from. This could have been Haley if not for the Blue Suns so I guess I have to thank them for being a bunch of assholes. This needs to end." Ty said. "We will stop them." Shepard said confidently. They moved forward and ran into more frozen colonists and found some extra credits, upgrades and even a collector weapon that Shepard decided she was going to use.

There was a bunker ahead with some Collectors trying to get through when Shepard, Garrus, and Ty got through some buildings but the Collectors soon stopped trying to hack a door and started shooting at Ty, Shepard and Garrus. Ty thought it was going to be a walk in the park like the last group was until one of them started transforming, it began glowing with fire until it let off a blast and then it had glowing eyes and started sending a weird looking force ball at all three of them. "I am the Harbinger of your perfection." The Collector said. "Well they just got an upgrade." Ty said as he hid in cover as the force ball went flying over his head. "Thank you for that insight we couldn't tell." Shepard joked. "Hey I'm just saying." Ty said. "And I thought Geth primes were a pain in the ass this brings a whole new level to the ugly pain in the ass scale." Garrus said as he took cover after unloading a clip into the controlled Collector.

Ty shot three of the regular Collectors killing all three then put his right pistol away and grabbed his tomahawk and yelled "Catch this bitch." He launched it across the field into the head of the controlled Collector. It started to rise then it said "We will continue the experiments." It disappeared and Ty's tomahawk fell to the ground. Ty got out of cover and shot the remaining Collector in the shoulder and then Shepard shot it in the head killing it and making it fall to the ground with a thud. Ty looked at the spot where the controlled Collector was and said "Okay that was weird." "I'd hate to see what you consider normal." Garrus said dryly.

Shepard put her gun away and walked with Garrus towards the door the Collectors were trying to get into as Ty walked over to grab his tomahawk off the ground. He made sure it was still in good condition since the Collector had disintegrated but nothing was wrong with it so he put it away and caught up to Shepard and Garrus who were hacking through the bunker door. Shepard was pressing buttons on her omni-tool trying to hack the door so Ty decided that since he had a program that would hack it in seconds he would use it, "Need help?" Ty asked. Before Shepard could answer Ty popped up his omni-tool and aimed it at the door then pressed the button for his hacking program which made the door fly open. "Show off." Shepard said. Ty shrugged and said "Maybe but remember I may have been in a merc band but I also was a thief to and a damn good one, come on lets go."

They walked down the ramp and Ty sensed someone in the room, his senses had never lied before but apparently Shepard sensed it to "We've got company." Shepard said. All three pulled out their guns and aimed them at the other end of the room; Ty waited for whatever to come out and had his finger ready on the trigger. There was a little bit of movement then Ty saw a human head pop out with a hat on so he relaxed a little and put his pistols away, "You- your humans. How did you escape the swarms?" _Probably not a good time to throw any comments in,_ Ty thought.

Ty stood and listened to the conversation and wanted to slap the guy for being disrespectful, people like this guy made Ty question why he was protecting innocent people when a lot of them were a bunch of ungrateful assholes but he kept his mouth shut and waited as Shepard asked questions about the colonies defense system. They were GARDIAN turrets the Alliance gave them but the targeting wasn't working, Ty knew it would take his hacking tech a while to fix that but he also knew an A.I. that could hack anything. "We can get it working just point us in that direction." Ty said. The guy unlocked the door and Shepard said "You should stay here and lock yourself in." "That's exactly what I was thinking." The man said. _Fucking pansy_, Ty thought.

Shepard grabbed some extra medi-gel and upgrades then all three walked out the other side, after the door closed behind him Ty said "What a fucking opinionated asshole this is why I live in a space station with just my family. If it wasn't for the fact I don't kill innocents I would shove the spiked end of my tomahawk down his fucking throat." "Good thing he didn't know you were in the Alliance Shepard." Garrus said. "Yea I'm sure he'd have loved me." Shepard said as they walked up the hill.

They rounded the corner where there was an upper floor of prefabs and a lower floor of prefabs but what got Ty's attention was the Collectors flying in and the big version of the Husk launching a shockwave at him and the others, Shepard and Garrus hadn't noticed the big guys launch the shockwave and Ty did what he thought was smart, "Move!" Ty yelled as he pushed Garrus and Shepard forward. The shockwave knocked Ty's footing off and he fell and rolled across the ground and had a severe amount of pain in his chest. "Assuming direct control." Harbinger said. He was beginning to think his idea wasn't that smart since he didn't have shields as he looked up and saw the Collector have a yellow glow explode off of it then it turned into the same thing they had versed before. The pain in Ty's chest was nearly as bad as when he had gotten impaled to the point that he was grabbing the right side of his chest with his right hand. Fuck me, I gotta keep moving and get to cover, Ty thought. He forced himself to stand up as he drew his pistol in his left hand and began shooting and running to the same cover as Shepard.

Ty got to the low wall and collapsed into it slamming his back against it which hurt but was worth the pain so he could get behind cover, "These assholes just keep getting upgrades don't they." Ty said as he held the cybernetic side of his chest. "Yea it seems that way." Shepard said as she looked down to him. She saw the pain etched in his face under his hood as he grabbed at his chest, "Are you okay?" Shepard asked concern clear in her tone. "Yea just want to kill these bastards more. New problems mean new strategies right? I got a solution you two wanna give me some cover from the big guy while I take out the glowy asshole and his buddies?" Ty asked. "How do you plan on doing that without getting shot?" Garrus asked. "You'll see, ready?" Ty asked. "After you." Garrus said. Ty hit his cloak and pulled out his tomahawk with his right hand to compliment his pistol as he ran up to the first Collector, Ty hit it square in the head with his tomahawk killing it instantly then he spun around its left side as he tore his tomahawk out of its head and shot two shots into the head of the next Collector Assassin before his cloak came off.

As the cloak came off he threw his tomahawk into the Collector standing between him and the controlled Collector, Ty passed his pistol to his other hand as he ran at the last controlled Collector and pulled his other tomahawk out. "I am the Harbinger of your ascendance." Harbinger said. "And you talk to much shit." Ty replied back. "Says the merc with a mouth." Garrus retorted over the comm.

The Collector sent a bigger force ball then the other one was throwing before but it was slower and it gave Ty enough time to get to the low wall and use it as a spring board to jump the force ball. As he pushed off the wall Ty front flipped in the air which helped him propel himself directly in front of the Collector. Ty landed and sliced his tomahawk across the Collectors chest then he brought back across and spun so his back was facing it and crossed his arms with his pistol under his arm then he shot three times nailing it in the chest and killing it. "You have failed." Harbinger said as he died.

Ty looked to see the progress Shepard and Garrus had and saw that they had taken down the Scion and were taking out the remaining Collectors that weren't in Ty's war path as he finished off the controlled Collector. Ty found his tomahawk and caught up to Shepard and Garrus who were moving through the buildings checking for colonists which Ty had noticed a lack of, when he met Shepard and Garrus at the main door he decided to see if they noticed it as well, "I haven't seen any frozen colonist for a while now what about you two?" Ty asked. "No we haven't either; the Collectors must have the rest of the colonist on their ship." Shepard said. "Then let's go get them and destroy the Collectors ship." Ty said.

Shepard opened the door and Ty saw the new field of battle, the GARDIAN control panel was in the center with a bunch of tires and flatbeds scattered across the whole field and a small balcony on the left side but along with husks waiting for them. "Garrus use that balcony to snipe, Ty go with him but stop at that truck and make sure no one gets to him." Shepard ordered. "Will do." Ty said. Ty followed Garrus taking out two husks along the way until he got to the truck and took cover like Shepard asked. Garrus got to his small perch and started sniping as Shepard and Ty covered and killed husks from their positions. They seemed unrelenting until Shepard came out of a biotic charge and blasted the last three Husks with her Katana. Ty had taken out fifteen with Garrus "stealing" at least eight of his kills when the initial dust settled and they regrouped.

As Ty began looking at the GARDIAN system he noticed how screwed up it all was while Shepard patched EDI into the system and said, "EDI take control of these turrets." "Shepard it will take time for me to get them active." EDI said. Ty looked back at Shepard and said "It might go faster if I help her Shep, I might be able to fix a lot of the basic stuff quickly since they left it a mess." Shepard nodded and said "Alright do your best, anything else you can tell us EDI?" Shepard asked. "Ready your weapons reinforcements have arrived." EDI said.

Ty popped his omni-tool up and started hacking the control panel with EDI as Shepard and Garrus covered him, the colonist that had been working on it had left the circuits at the panel completely screwed up making it extremely difficult on Ty's side which EDI decided to comment on, "Your hacking skills are impressive for a human but circuits easily slow you down." EDI said. "Well blame whoever used this last they screwed it all up." Ty said as he blasted through more circuits speeding up EDIs time. "Sounds like an excuse." Joker piped in. "Oh don't you jump in on this Joker or I'll reverse the Normandy's controls so up is down and left is right." Ty said. "Bickering with Mr. Moreau is not helping you speed this up Ty." EDI said.

She was right unfortunately so Ty focused back on hacking through getting EDI to eighty percent when two Scions showed up, Ty didn't know until another shockwave hit him sending excruciating pain through his cybernetics along with regular pain in his human side, Ty attempted to grunt in pain but couldn't get any sound to pop out as his hearing disappeared and his eyes turned purple, his vision suddenly flooded with the memory of the Omega incident when they shot his friend. Ty didn't pay attention to the memory as he fought to get his regular vision back, everything faded to black but then he saw the Collector ship from the ground near the console. "…y…Ty…Ty are you alright, we thought you died you just completely disappeared off my scanners." Joker said. Ty sat up and grabbed at his head due to the rocking headache that was coming on, "Yea I think I'm good." Ty said.

How he ended up on the ground was a mystery to him though he assumed he probably had blacked out and fell over since it was about the only logical thing he could actually think of at the moment. He got himself up and checked his omni-tool which read, 100% hack complete. "Mr. Rhoddy I need you to give me control of the guns." EDI said. Ty hit buttons on his omni-tool and gave the guns to EDI who started shooting the Collector ship. "TY MOVE!" Shepard yelled. Ty looked behind him and saw a new creature that was floating and look liked a machine, _Fuck me,_ "Really." Ty said in a shocked tone.

Ty pulled his pistols out and started running for cover, he got to a low wall but the thing kept following him like it was hell bent on just trying to kill him like he had wronged the Collectors in someway other than fighting them in this battle. Ty stood up to start shooting but his hearing disappeared again and his eyes turned completely purple, _"Guys get off the fucking ship now!" Ty yelled into his comm. More missiles impacted into the ship as he heard the screams of his crew he fell to his hands and knees, Carson's voice came over his comm as the ship began to battle against gravity as he told Ty what he found, his voice was cut off by the sound of the ship crashing. Ty felt hot tears burning down his cheeks; they were all dead except for Darian who was still trying to reach someone over his comm. _

The memory faded and Ty's eyesight and hearing came back and once again he was on his back with his pistols still in his hands as hot tears ran down his face. Ty wiped them away as best he could not wanting to remember the pain of that day, he didn't want to hear their screams anymore while he stood helpless with his comm not transmitting to them only receiving their voices. He should have listened to Darian and made the Thresher nest their last fight but he didn't and now they were all dead. The Collector ship began lifting off as Ty sat up, another failure to save innocent people added to the constantly growing list. He was lucky he wasn't dead with the blackouts or maybe he'd have been lucky to have perished with his friends and not have the memories. Another tear found its way out of Ty's eye making him wipe it away again, he forced the feeling of pain and guilt down as Jokers voice came through his comm "Ty what the hell is going on down there you just dropped off my scanners again like you died." Joker said. "Ty its Miranda, what's happening down there?" Miranda asked. Ty put his hand up to block the incoming debris from hitting his face as the Collector ship began to lift off, Ty didn't know what was going on but he had an assumption, "Miranda I think something went wrong with the cybernetic implants." "Shit." Miranda said.

**A/N: Dun dun dun. Cliffhanger type things don't you hate those? I just left you there without finishing up all of Horizon and leaving you with Ty having new issues and Miranda actually worried about it. Well there is always next chapter…Or is there? Anyway I have a few things to talk about first off being that I noticed while editing this chapter that I put the wrong system for Project Firewalker in the last chapter because Shepard had already gained the M-44 Hammerhead while Ty was unconscious after Omega so I went back and edited that out and put in the actual one she would have been able to do, which is like three but as you read in this chapter she knocks out two of them leaving the final one before she gets the actual final one where you get that orb of expansion. So for those who read it before I fixed it don't worry about it you get the correct system in this chapter. **

**Secondly I'd like to respond to MasterK11ers review in here because I don't know if everyone will see my answer if I just click reply to review but either way here you go. Firstly MasterK11er I'd like to thank you, truly it means a lot to me that you are getting enjoyment out of my story. I have had a blast writing it and the characters of the Mass Effect Universe have become like my second family, a virtual family that I can actually sort of interact with through the games and through this story. I know, I'm a huge nerd but I enjoy it. So thank you MasterK11er for the review and enjoying my story and thank you to all eight of the followers I have and all the other silent readers that read this and gave me my 1,056 views that I never thought I'd get. As for the second half of your review and to all of those reading who have concern about me not continuing this or finishing it, have no fear my friends this adventure is far from over and I won't stop no matter what, well unless like something really bad happens that makes me incapable of typing then I guess I would have to get a voice software thing but no matter what I promise I will finish this story and its sequel. Thank you all, if you have any questions about anything regarding the goings of this story please feel free to ask, I will answer the best I can and if you just want to pop in and say hey that's fine as well. I will see you next time.**


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Tearing Open Old Wounds

**A/N/Disclaimer: I don't own the Mass Effect Universe, Bioware/E/A does, I only stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not from the actual Mass Effect Universe. I apologize now to all the Kaiden fans for this beginning scene, I personally like Kaiden but I had to make him and Ty buck heads or whatever the saying is. **

As the Collector ship lifted off completely Ty began to get up himself off the ground, they saved part of the colony but the rest had been taken away on that ship to have god knows what done to them. As Ty got on both feet he began to feel the pain in his body from whatever had been going wrong. Ever since he got hit by the Scions shockwave he had felt extreme pain in the right side of his chest and he had begun blacking out in the middle of battle. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him but his cybernetics felt like they were on fire, as he began walking to Shepard and Garrus with his right hand clenching his chest he activated his comm to respond to Miranda who had given him a statement that he really didn't want to hear from the person who had repaired him, "I take it by you saying shit there was a possibility." Ty said.

Ty could hear the shuffling of data-pads and Miranda's heels clicking on the ground in his comm as he waited for her to respond, she finally let out a sigh and said "Your condition before the incident made putting cybernetics in dangerous, mix that with them probably not being fully augmented to your nervous system and you probably have the reason for why you are dropping off the charts." "What the hell is my "condition"?" Ty asked. Miranda let a forced chuckled out as she said "Besides being annoyingly sarcastic and useful at the same time, your ability to access memories in other people and the world around you is your condition. When I put the cybernetics in I had to map it to your nervous system and that was very difficult, I'm not even sure if I mapped it all correctly I'm still trying to work out a diagram of it because of how complex it is." Miranda said. "How complex are we talking?" Ty asked. "Imagine trying to map the relay networks without knowing anything about them." Miranda stated. "…Wow…I think you're trying to hit on me." Ty said. "In your dreams. I won't know for sure until you get back but I think you're because your nervous system is so complex your brain isn't used to having the cybernetics apart of it so any hit you take would be ten times worse than usual and that would render you unconscious." Miranda said.

It sounded like she was onto something as Ty got closer to Shepard and Garrus who were talking to that engineer but if his cybernetics were causing these problems he couldn't help but wonder about Shepard and her cybernetics, "What about Shepard and her cybernetics is it the same with her?" "I had two years to work on her to make sure that didn't happen, with you I had very limited supplies and your body hasn't had a long time to readjust to the cybernetics." Miranda said in a disappointed voice at herself.

Ty thought about making a joke about how she also had limited motivation because of who he was but the disappointment in her tone stopped him, "But Jack punched me in the arm pretty hard and when you did the tests it barely fazed me, I still could feel both but the sense of touch is slightly toned down compared to it used to be." Ty said. "That is a side effect of it not being augmented to you completely; if I can fix this problem then I think your sense of touch will come back to normal, unless you don't want it to." "I don't mind it if I can get rid of this headache and black out problem since I can ignore most pain on that side now." Ty answered. "You may want to look into the cybernetic skin weaves Shepard is finding they may improve that ability, what did you get hit by?" Miranda asked. "A shockwave by some weird new guys that you'll need EDI or someone to give me a name of so I can stop calling them weird guys." "I have classified them as Scions." EDI answered in his comm.

She was quick on that but she did process information faster than Ty or any organic being could so Ty couldn't be fully surprised, "Okay so the Collectors have this new guy called a Scion that used something similar to a biotic shockwave and it hit me, mind you I don't have shields so it hit me directly with nothing to cushion it or move the pain anywhere else so it hurt like hell, probably worse than that." Ty explained. "Shepard I know that name, some type of big alliance hero right." The engineer said. _Oh I am so not standing for this fuckers disrespect again_ "Gotta go Miranda I'll meet you back on board." Ty said. "Wait Ty-" Ty disconnected the comm.

Ty got next to Shepard and said "Sorry about that." Shepard looked at him and said in a tone Ty knew wasn't good "We'll talk back on the ship." _That doesn't sound like a good talk, well can't blame her I did blackout twice and probably almost got killed though they already thought I was,_ Ty thought. Ty nodded at her and was about to say it was fine when another guy came out and started listing off some of Shepard's accolades, Ty didn't need a description of Kaiden Alenko to know that this guy was him. His armor and the short black hair and five o'clock shadow gave him the Alliance soldier look, he almost looked partially glad to see Shepard.

As Ty listened to the engineer Delan dismiss himself black dots began to swarm Ty's vision again and his head began to explode with pain again, "Ty your stats are dropping rapidly ag…y can you hear me?" Joker asked. Ty reached his hand up to his head, unbeknownst to him his eyes started going completely purple then back to normal rapidly but for him he would momentarily see a glimpse of a random past memory of his and then it would fade then another would come into his vision before disappearing.

It was becoming nauseating and Ty began to feel dizzy but Garrus apparently noticed and gave Ty a good slap to the back of the head, the dizziness and nausea left as his vision returned to normal, Ty shook his head slightly and looked at Garrus as he said, "Thanks I needed that." Garrus's mandibles helped give him a smirk as he said "Anytime." "Maybe or maybe its you, maybe you just feel in debt to Cerberus that it's clouding your judgment I mean what if they're behind this all." Kaiden said. Ty hated Cerberus but he wasn't blinded by his emotions, the Collectors were real and they were taking colonist and, unfortunately, Cerberus was the only ones doing anything about it. "Whoa whoa whoa hold on don't tell me you actually believe the bullshit coming out of your mouth, we all just saw the Collectors take this colony, I hate Cerberus but they aren't actually behind this." Ty said.

Kaiden looked at him with a disgusted look; he looked so disgusted that Ty actually began to think he might have something on his face. "Um Garrus do I have something on my face?" Ty asked seriously as he looked at Garrus. "Yeah you do there's this mark…oh wait sorry it's just your face, never mind your clean." Garrus said with a toothy grin. Ty couldn't help the smirk that came to his face, "You win this round Vakarian." Ty said. Kaiden shook his head as he looked at Shepard and said "How can you have that man in your squad Shepard, he's a merciless bastard who doesn't care about anyone but himself, he's almost as bad as Saren was. What did Cerberus do to you?" Kaiden asked.

Ty's patience for disrespect was at an all time low at the moment and hearing this man not only berate Shepard for actually doing something to stop the Collectors and Reapers but also compare him to Saren, the man who was going to bring about their imminent destruction if it hadn't been for Shepard and her squad, his mouth began going as he began taking steps forward "You want to see how fucking merciless I can be asshole come on let me show you." Garrus grabbed Ty by his arm but Ty pulled it away, as he took another step though he was stopped cold by Shepard's hard stare, "Take a walk Ty." Shepard said in an agitated tone. Ty shook his head and turned around as he said "Fine whatever don't want to waste my energy on someone asshole who doesn't know a god damn thing about me. All of the Alliance is just as bad as Cerberus; they both steal fucking childhoods and hide behind back room political bull-" Ty was more than ten steps away when he heard Shepard's raised voice "Enough Ty!" Shepard's tone was beyond agitation to the point of really pissed off.

Ty just continued walking until he found himself by a flatbed truck which he decided to make his seat, _who the hell does that asshole think he is,_ Ty thought. _What fucking ever fuck him and fuck the Alliance at least I don't have my head shoved so far up the political wheels ass that I ignore what's right in front of my face. _Ty opened his omni-tool and checked for anything new from Aria or his family. There was nothing, no new news, no new messages and it made Ty start feeling even worse about Haley's situation, _How many days have they had her…god damn it Haley I'm so fucking sorry,_ Ty thought_, if it wasn't for my ignorance you wouldn't be kidnapped right now, if I had just listened to my crew eight years ago none of this would have happened, if I had just killed them all first instead of taking down their organization this would have been over years ago. _

Ty looked back at Shepard and Garrus and saw Kaiden walking away, _fucking prick they were in love two years ago and then she comes back and he just accuses her and leaves her there like she meant nothing to him_, Ty thought, _two years thinking someone is dead is hard but she's alive now and that's what matters. I'd give anything to have…_Ty stopped the thoughts of her from forming, _Hopefully he realizes what he's walking away from before its to late because he'll regret it the rest of his life if he doesn't_.

Shepard had called the shuttle apparently since it came flying down and landed right next to Ty, the doors opened and Ty hopped in and sat down holding his right side since it was still in pain. Garrus got in next and sat in front of Ty giving Ty a small nod, Ty looked out the door to see Shepard get in. She got in slower than usual with a slouched posture compared to her usual straight back, she looked completely drained emotionally and like she had a huge weight pressed down on her shoulders though Ty understood why she was like that.

She sat down right next to the door away from everyone, her slouched posture turned into her bending forward as she brought her face to her hands to cover only taking them away to look outside once in a while. Ty looked at Garrus and nodded in Shepard's direction but Garrus shook his head and gave Ty a look that read keep your mouth shut. Ty nodded and tried to relax his right side as they flew back to the Normandy hoping Miranda had come up with some way to make the blacking out stop since Ty knew that when they were fighting he was lucky the things didn't realize he wasn't actually dead and take advantage of it and if it happened during something where him passing out would get everyone killed and him then it needed to be fixed now.

The shuttle got picked up by the Normandy and after they landed and got out they all went in the elevator in silence, Ty and Garrus got off at the crew quarters but Shepard stayed in as Ty walked to the med-bay with Garrus. Ty had always been fine with silence but the deafening silence of the elevator ride and shuttle ride had actual made him feel slightly uncomfortable, which was not an easy feat since he had a tendency not to feel awkward or uncomfortable even in the most awkward and uncomfortable situations. As they got closer to the Med-Bay he saw Miranda through the window waiting for him in there working on a machine, nice to see her hard at work already, wonder how she's dealing with me hanging up on her, Ty thought as Garrus and him both walked in. Garrus stopped at the door and made Ty stop as well and made him turn to look at him, "Get the treatments you need and just give Shepard some space right now. Kaiden really didn't like her working with you." Ty nodded and said "So she might be pissed at me for my comments, I figured. I don't know what his deal was but you'd think he would have been ecstatic to see her. Anyway I gotta deal with this now." Garrus nodded and said "When your done getting fixed up come see me so we can talk."

Ty nodded and slapped Garrus in the shoulder before turning around and walking towards the bed Miranda was working near. Ty sat down on the bed and before he could make a comment Miranda said "Before you ask no I haven't figured anything out but me and Doctor Chakwas are working on it." "Anything that I can do to help?" Mordin asked as he walked in. "Well three heads are better than two I guess but don't even think about trying to put me in a stasis field or something." Ty said. Mordin smiled slightly as he pulled up his omni-tool and scanned Ty, a miniature version of Ty's nervous system popped up but it changed between four colors starting with red then going to blue, then yellow then green, "Hmm…this could be problematic." Mordin said. "What?" Ty asked. "I told you your nervous system wasn't like anything I've ever seen before." Miranda said. "Must run tests on this later, for now though know that your nervous system seems to be combined with three other sets of nervous systems giving you four. This is more than just a rare condition, looks like experiment."

That confused Ty but before he could ask a red dot popped up at his right chest and then another on his head, red dots usually signified something bad so Ty began to worry as he asked "Why is there a red dot on my head?" "The dots signify the areas of damage." Mordin answered. "So I have brain damage?" Ty asked suddenly even more worried. "Nothing that wasn't there already." Mordin answered slyly. "You're an asshole." Ty responded. "What if you…" Chakwas stood up and went to the console on his bed and pulled up another diagram of his insides_, Maybe she's having a break through,_ Ty thought. "What if you what Chakwas?" Ty asked.

Chakwas ignored him and started hammering away on the console leaving Ty clueless and Miranda and Mordin starting to understand what she was talking about, with what little she said. Chakwas attached a few mechanisms to his right arm and peck and then attached them into a machine "Don't move around to much." Chakwas said. "Ah genius that's the perfect treatment." Mordin said. "Okay what the hell are you three talking about, I don't like that look in your eyes Mordin." Ty said as he noticed the slight mischief behind Mordin's eyes. "Its better off you don't know what we are doing." Miranda said. That didn't sound good for his health, "What's that supposed to mean?" Ty asked. "That means its better off if you don't know, trust us Chakwas has the right idea." Miranda said.

Chakwas and Miranda began preparing a bunch of stuff as Ty was left to sit still while they prepared whatever it was; as he sat there he felt a sudden small jolt. He wasn't sure if it was just his mind playing tricks on him at first but then another stronger jolt surged through him which was followed by three more. The dots began to disappear until they were gone but even after the dots were gone they jolted him five more times, Ty couldn't stand the jolts anymore so he ripped the mechanisms off of his chest and said "Okay what the hell is going on are you defibbing me or something?" "Very inaccurate." Mordin said.

_No shit it was inaccurate but I don't know the medical terminology for this type of stuff, _Ty thought, "Then what I'm tired of being zapped without knowing why." Ty said. Chakwas tapped away at the console and said "We sped up the augmentation of your cybernetics by fusing them further into your nervous system with artificial electricity." Ty really wasn't sure what that meant, he slightly understood what fusing them to his nervous system meant but he still wasn't sure fully of what the process was or what it fully did, "You what?" Ty asked. "We fixed the problem." Miranda responded. _That was simple enough_, "Are we sure this time?" Ty asked. "Yes." Miranda said confidently. "Then why didn't we do this before?" Ty asked. "We didn't think your cybernetics needed to be fused so far you're your nervous system because we were looking for functionality not another Project Lazarus." Miranda answered. Ty raised an eyebrow in response to which Miranda sighed in slight annoyance to his lack of knowledge and said "There wasn't an issue we knew of yet." "Touché Miranda touché." Ty said.

Mordin left and Ty got off the bed and said "I'm going to put my guns back then talk to Garrus is that alright?" Chakwas nodded and Miranda said "Yea, by the way Jack wanted to talk to you when you had time." Ty gave her a shocked look and asked "She told you?" "Did you seriously just ask that, no she told EDI and EDI told me to tell you?" Miranda said. "Alright I'll talk to her when I'm done with Garrus, see you two later oh and thanks for the shock treatments." Ty said as he walked out.

Ty walked back to his room and put his guns and tomahawks on his table then walked back out and made his way to the Main Battery. Ty hit the green hologram which opened the door revealing Garrus on his terminal working away at something. "Hey Garrus what you doing?" Ty asked. "I just finished some calibrations on these guns." Garrus answered as he turned around. "Sounds like a lot of fun…you wanted to talk right?" Ty asked. Garrus nodded and said "Yea I did, how did the treatments go?" Ty saw a little bench on his right so he made his way over to it as he said "They zapped me a few times and said I was fixed for good so I guess it went well, they called it "fusing the cybernetics further into my nervous system" though it just felt like they were shocking me for shits and giggles."

Garrus chuckled slightly as Ty leaned forward, he had wondered while he was being shocked about Shepard, he felt bad that Kaiden had chewed her out and that he couldn't keep a lid on his mouth but he mostly felt bad for how everything went down between her and Kaiden. "You seen Shepard since we got back?" Ty asked. Garrus shook his head and said "No she'll probably be to herself for a while, Kaiden really laid into her about this mission and housing a fugitive criminal." Ty chuckled and said "But he was fine with a Krogan mercenary right."

Garrus's look changed to being surprised and asked "You know Wrex?" "We met once but it wasn't a long meeting…plus my time on the Cerberus facility hunting for data on the old squad gave me a good read at night." Ty said. "Why were you reading about the old squad?" Garrus asked. "The Shadow Broker and the Illusive man are evil guys but they got one thing right, information is power. I figured if I could find some of the old squad I could give them information on Shepard's survival and get them ready but the proof on Shepard's survival was booby trapped and they caught me which is when I met Miranda and Jacob." Ty said. "How'd you plan on finding us?" Garrus asked.

Ty kind of smirked, he hadn't really thought about that. He was so focused on getting the information that he didn't even think about how to distribute it, not that it mattered now she was up and about and he was on her squad. "Didn't get that far ahead in my planning but I know how to find people and places that no one knows about. Tali would've been the first I went after since we have history and then after her would've been you, I could've found you easily because you disappeared off the map and Archangel popped up on Omega fighting against corruption and other shit that went on. From you I would've thought about Wrex but he was on Tuchanka and he wasn't going anywhere soon so I probably wouldn't have wasted my time. Kaiden and Anderson I would've messaged anonymously the info and Liara would've been easy since she was on Illium at the time."

Garrus seemed surprised by Ty's knowledge of everything so Ty said "What I know how to find info comes in handy being a thief and having to hunt down people." Garrus nodded in a good point gesture and asked "How do you know Tali?" "We met seven years ago through a friend of mine that happened to look after Tali like a sister would." Ty said. Ty remembered Tali pulling a gun on him a few years back which made him chuckle slightly, "What?" Garrus asked. "A few years back I had snuck on board a ship that I didn't know was a Quarian ship because I was hiding from some Suns and I happened to fall asleep in the Cargo Hold. A curious Quarian found me and since I had my breather mask on and my hood up and all my tattoos covered up by a sweater needless to say I was perceived as a threat." Ty said. "Tali found you?" Garrus asked. "Ha more like smashed my face with a pistol…" Ty said.

Thirty Minutes Later

Garrus and Ty were both laughing as Ty tried finishing the story, Garrus thought it was pretty hilarious that Tali had conducted his interrogation and smacked him around with a pistol since Ty couldn't shut his mouth and didn't notice it as Tali because he hadn't seen her in a few years before it and didn't recognize her voice at first. "I keep it as a personal note now, "Tali has a shotgun don't piss her off" I tell you though Tali does not like people infiltrating her ship." Garrus laughed more and said "I'm sure you just relaxing on a Quarian vessel had nothing to do with her anger." Ty chuckled, Tali had all the reason to be angry for more than just him relaxing on her ship, he had cut off all contact with her because of what happened to their friend and that wasn't what friends do, you don't just cut off contact with a friend who cares about you. "If we get her to join us or if we run into her and have time to talk I'm sure she'd revisit that moment and tell it differently. I'm having fun talking but I gotta go talk to Jack before she comes up here and rips me in half, next time I'll listen and you can talk." "Alright Ty see you around." Garrus said.

Ty got up and walked to the elevator seeing Miranda talking to Jacob as they sat across from each other in the Mess Hall, both nodded at him as he walked by and he nodded back not wanting to interrupt their conversation about dealing with the remaining Firewalker missions. Ty chuckled slightly as he got into the elevator remembering why they had stopped and why he wasn't going to step foot in that vehicle until someone cleaned it, Krogan puke was not an attractive smell. The elevator brought Ty down to Engineering and let him get out so he could go down to Jacks hidey hole, Ty walked into the room that led down to Jacks domain and headed down the stairs.

She obviously didn't want a lot of company choosing to stay all the way down here but he couldn't blame her, after the small glimpse of her childhood he wouldn't question her not wanting to talk to anyone. As he got to the bottom he knocked on the wall closest to him and said "Knock knock Jack you down here?" He got further into the room and saw Jack sitting on a cot surrounded by data-pads so he walked over and said "I heard you wanted to talk." Jack turned her head with a smile and said "Bout time you fucker I thought I was going to have to come up there and drag you down here."

Ty chuckled, that he might have paid to see if it didn't involve getting hurt, just the thought of Jack dragging someone by their foot was a funny image. "Garrus wanted to talk to me and I ended up telling a story, so what's up Jack what you doin that you need me." "You in the mood to share something about yourself?" Jack asked. Ty shrugged, it wasn't the weirdest way he got to know someone sharing something about himself with her might actually result in them becoming friends. "Sure but it depends on the something." "What made you such a vengeful guy, I mean I know the Suns killed all your friends but is that all that sent you over the edge or was there more?" Jack asked. "That's what you want to know, not anything about why I use tomahawks or how I can see past memories?" Ty asked with a smirk. "That's boring shit and something I probably won't understand fully since I don't think you even understand it. You know why I hate Cerberus and why I'm this way, I'm curious to see if there is anything more to your vengefulness." Jack answered.

She was right that there was one more thing that happened but that would be a really hard conversation to have. "They weren't just my friends, they were like another family to me and they died because I didn't take their advice and leave the Blue Suns while I still could, I had to take the last contract because I thought it was going to be an easy pick up and delivery mission. After they died I felt like my heart had been torn from me and crushed. After that I tried to pick up the pieces when the Suns destroyed the last bits of it." Ty said but stopped himself short of finishing. "What did they do?" Jack asked.

Ty shook his head, he didn't even know where to begin, hell he hadn't talked about this to anyone the only person who knew aside from his family, Darian, a few old friends who he had lost contact with this past year and Aria and Grizz was Haley and he didn't even explain it to her he had just let her into his mind so she could see the memory. "It's hard for me to explain…Haley is the only person who knows about it that wasn't around during that time and even then I couldn't talk about it I had to show her it." Jack looked at him with a contemplative look on her face until she stood up and said "Then show me."

_This is bad, I shouldn't have even began talking about this but I did and now I have to make sure this doesn't go any farther, _Ty took a step back and said "Jack why do you want to know it's not like you care I mean you said it yourself when we met that you didn't care." "Is curiosity hard to believe?" Jack asked. "From you, yea." Ty said with a smirk forming. Jack punched his left arm and said "You're a dick." "And you're an all powerful bitch." Ty said.

Jack took a step closer to him and said "Come on what's the worse that'll happen." "Those are the famous last words of many people and I'm one of them, a lot of bad shit can happen and it can always get worse." Ty said as he walked towards the back of the room. Those memories had a strong effect on Ty, seeing those four assholes with the hostage on the ground was his second tragedy but in no way was second in position of how bad it hurt, it was tied with losing his friends and on some days it was worse. "I've seen a lot of shit Ty and I know how bad shit scars you." Jack said turning Ty around. "This is my own personal hell that I made the mistake of imparting on Haley; I don't want to make that mistake again." Ty said. "Oh stop being such a pussy and show me." Jack said. It didn't take much effort to focus on the memory and as soon as he did his eyes turned purple and gently grabbed Jacks arms.

The memory consumed their vision but instead of how he had seen Jack's memory his flashed like still images showing everything he saw when his crew was killed and then the Omega incident but they would later form into the actual memories for Jack, Ty didn't want to stand on the sidelines watching his friends die right now. He had watched it to many times over the years. The last of his memories passed over to Jack and Ty let go of her breaking the connection and returning his eyes to normal as he stumbled to the ground from exhaustion. As he was blacking out Jack came into view and said "Shit Ty what the fuck was all that." "I told you…my own hell." Ty mumbled. "Fuck Ty you're a dic...shit your…out again." Jack said.

Forty Minutes Later

While blacked out Ty had seen and heard nothing which was a first in a long time but as he came back he heard distant voices, "The fucker will be back up and going soon Shepard no need to worry about it." Jack said. "Explain to me again what happened so I understand this correctly Jack." Shepard said. "I wanted to talk to him about something in his past and he said the only way I'd understand is if he showed me but he was being a pussy about it and walked away to where he is now so I turned him around and told him to show me and he did and a minute later he let go and fell to the ground then passed out like the ass said he does, its not that big of a deal." Jack said. "He passed out twice today while we were fighting and almost got killed the last thing he needed to do is join minds or whatever he wants to call it." Shepard said.

Ty blinked quickly and shook his head as his vision came back and he started getting his bearings, he sat up slightly saw Shepard with her back turned to him talking to Jack, _Fuck me she's going to be pissed,_ Ty thought. Ty pushed himself up and walked a little towards Shepard and Jack and asked "How long I been out?" Shepard turned around and Jack looked around her and said "Told you the fucker would be up soon, you've been out forty minutes or something close to it. You feelin alright dick?" Ty smirked and said "Yea bitch I'm fine light headed is all, you get the answer you were looking for?" Jack smirked and said "It's all a bit jumbled thanks to how you showed me but I'm still piecing everything together, it becomes clearer each time I think about it and I can feel the emotions that you had."

Shepard just stared at Ty which began to feel like she was boring a hole into his face until she finally said "What the hell happened today you just toppled over like they killed you." Ty rubbed the back of his head and said "You'd have to ask Chakwas and Miranda for the reason I don't know something to do with my cybernetics and my brain not being used to them." Shepard raised her eyebrows and Ty read it as her asking him if he was serious so he said "Like I said ask Chakwas or Miranda all I know is that I got hit by those weird big things twice first time it just hurt like hell the second time it made me collapse and see my past then the last time I collapsed I just blacked out and saw my past again. Chakwas said I'll be fine now since they zapped the problem out of me." "Zapped?" Shepard asked. Ty shrugged and said "Well they called it "fusing my cybernetics further into my nervous system" but I prefer zapped since that's what it felt like."

Shepard seemed like she was pissed still so Ty decided that he was going to "take a walk" after he dismissed himself "I've had fun passing out and joining minds but if I'm done being needed I'll head out." "What did you let Jack see?" Shepard asked. Ty sensed the loaded question, what it could be he wasn't sure but he was going to dodge the question the best he could, "Shep honestly that's between me and Jack now, I don't like my past being spread around not that I think you or Jack would go talking behind my back, you'll know if I ever show you or tell you." Ty answered Shepard seemed a bit agitated at his response but Jack said "Well that was nicer than what I was going to say I would've said-" That wasn't going to make it any better so Ty interrupted Jack "I think we know what you would say Jack, anywho can I go." "Yea go ahead." Shepard said.

Ty walked up the stairs to the elevator and hit the button and waited for it to come down as he did he started hearing thumps coming towards him from his right, _please don't be a pissed off Krogan please don't be a pissed off Krogan,_ Ty thought not making eye contact with the mysterious thumping noise. The thumps stopped and a shadow came over him, _oh please don't be a pissed off Krogan,_ Ty looked up at Grunt and saw his massive form which looked a lot bigger now that he was out of the tank, "Damn you're bigger than I remember." Ty said. "Do I know you human?" Grunt asked. "Depends on how much gossip you hear and if you could see while in the tank, I'm Tyler Rhoddy Alliance fugitive, master thief and vengeful asshole if you ask Jack." Ty said taking his hood off.

Grunt looked Ty up and down then asked "You like to fight human?" Ty smirked, that was a simple answer but he hoped he wasn't going to have to fight this Krogan. They never appreciated the quad kick. "I'm bred to fight and kill it's in my blood, not as much as yours but that's all I know is fighting and surviving." "What's the biggest thing you've killed?" Grunt asked. Ty had to think on that one, he had run into a lot in his short time, it hit him like a train, the second to last contract he did for the Suns, "A thresher maw." Ty said. "Haha you killed a thresher maw, you're funny human." Grunt said. "I'm serious, didn't say I was on my own it was six of us, me and five of my guys. We were contracted to take down this maw because its nest was in mineral rich area, almost lost all of them that day but luckily one of them was a Krogan as big as you and had a huge shotgun that blew its face apart as it tried to eat him." "What happened to your Krannt?" Grunt asked.

The Krogan that was part of his squad used the same word when he talked about their group so Ty knew it meant something close to being a squad but he bet the word was deeper than that to Krogans, "All died except two of us, the other that survived was a Turian and my lieutenant he kept everyone in line but after the Blue Suns blew up my ship that had the other eight on it he went straight and bartends at the Citadel now. They counted on me and I failed them and now another friend is in danger so you can say when it comes time to extract my vengeance I'll be in a blood rage." "Hmm I think I'm starting to like you human, what do you like to be called?" Grunt asked. "Ty, you?" Ty asked. Grunt slammed his fists together and said "Grunt, I look forward to seeing the carnage you bring to the battlefield." "I'm sure it'll be miniscule to the amount you bring." Ty said. The grin that Grunt gave him scared him a little as he gave a deep menacing laugh, "Heh heh heh."

**A/N/Response to Review: I love that laugh Grunt does, I especially love Grunts scream in the Citadel DLC when they show him falling out of the hospital. "You're my hero Grunt" in the words of Shepard. Now as for my response to your question masterk11er, "would we see ty unleash his inner demon anytime soon" my answer is…mayyyybe. It will happen I can confirm that, as for how long until nuclear meltdown…I'd put up a countdown for fun but I don't think I can plus you'll know it when you see the chapter name so when you see it remember to duck in cover because the blast may knock over a lot of stuff. I may not post tomorrow or Sunday because I need to work on the future chapters still and those are about the only days I have free time for that so don't expect a new chapter but one may still pop up if I choose. I will see you next time.**


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Ty's and Aria's History

**A/N/Disclaimer: As usual I still don't own any part of the Mass Effect Universe since that belongs to Bioware/E/A. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co. I couldn't think of anything clever to name this chapter so what you read is what its going to be about, just a little more information on the deal between Ty and Aria and little bit about their history. Anyway onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Grunt turned and began walking back to the Port Cargo, _I hope I never piss him off, that laugh is enough to make me worried he'd tear my spine out of my ass and enjoy it_. Ty looked back to the elevator and saw that during his conversation with Grunt it had left and gone back up so Ty clicked the button again and waited for it to come down from the CIC. The door to engineering opened and Shepard walked out and seemed surprised to see Ty standing there still, "Elevator broken?" Shepard asked. "No Grunt came out and wanted to talk so I talked and the elevator left as we talked, enjoy your conversation with Jack?" Ty asked. "She's an interesting woman." Shepard said. _Interesting is one way to put it,_ Ty thought as he chuckled and said "Uh-huh." "What?" Shepard asked with genuine curiosity. Ty shook his head and said "Nothing I was just agreeing." The elevator doors opened and they both walked in, "You going to your room or CIC?" Ty asked. "You going back to your room?" Shepard asked. "Yea need to rest and who knows maybe I'll get some information from Aria soon about Haley." Ty said. "You think Aria would be holding out on you, I'm going to my room by the way."

Ty chuckled as he hit the buttons, Aria wouldn't hold out on him on something like this, it's not that she feared him that she wouldn't do it, it was that she actually enjoyed him being around and liked having him work with her, not something she could say about a lot of her guards not to mention that she enjoyed the deal she had conjured up between them. "Nah Aria and I have never held out on each other, we trust and respect each other despite her thinking I should throw away my code sometimes though she knows I'll never do it. She knows what I've been through and I know some things about her that I will never utter to another soul, besides if she didn't come through then I wouldn't have to pay her back and she enjoys the deal she created that I abide by most of the time." Ty said. Shepard kind of smirked and asked "Why is that?"

The doors opened at the crew quarters, he needed to tell her eventually but now wasn't the time due to Horizon, "Ask me tomorrow and I'll tell you." Ty said as he began to walk out. After getting on the outside of the elevator he stopped and looked back at Shepard and said "Oh and I'm sorry about today." Shepard shook her head and said "You couldn't control your blacking out, it wasn't your fault." "True but I wasn't talking about blacking out I was talking about me and Kaiden and whatever happened between you two. See ya tomorrow Shep." Ty said. Ty leaned inside and hit the button then got out of the elevator doors path as they closed and began to bring Shepard up. He walked to his room and got inside of it letting the doors close behind him, he began walking to his bed as he checked his omni-tool for messages; he found none so he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes letting sleep take him.

The Next Day

There was a blaring alarm that suddenly filled Ty's room which woke Ty from his sleep violently, he sat up with his pistol aiming at all corners of the room looking for enemies until he saw EDI in his room and distinguished that the noise was coming from her, "EDI what's with the alarm are we under attack?" Ty asked. "No you asked for me to make a noise before entering your room so I would not give you a "heart attack"." EDI answered though Ty swore he could hear humor in her synthetic voice. _Me and my big mouth,_ Ty thought. "Well shit I guess I did but you don't need to that's more likely to give me a heart attack then you just coming in my room, any new news?" Ty asked. "Operative Lawson would like to see you in her office as soon as you are ready." EDI said. Ty nodded and thought, _Probably to make sure everything worked out._ Ty moved himself to the edge of his bed and said "Tell her I'll be there in about eight minutes, do I need to be armed?" "She did not mention anything about needing your weapons." EDI said. Ty nodded and said "Alright I'll go see her shortly EDI."

EDI disappeared and Ty stuck his pistol back under his pillow before getting out of bed and going to his bathroom to shower and get ready. It didn't take long to wash his hair and then get out and dried off completely. He got his clam diggers on and tank top hoodie on before brushing through his hair and putting the crown of his hair in a ponytail to keep it out of his face. As he walked out of his bathroom and towards the exit of his room he put his hood up out of habit and began his walk to Miranda's room. As he walked he saw some of the non-ground team crew members eating at Mess Hall table, he could hear them talking to one another about Rupert actually making decent edible meals but Ty had yet to eat any of his food or any food in general for about a week going now.

He pushed his body to its limits to get in the shape he was in but because some missions he took upon himself, like hiding on the Cerberus facility where Shepard was held, took him a long time he had trained himself not to let hunger bother him. Thus began his terrible habit of not eating everyday, something he had yet to get back in the habit of, he still had a week left before starvation would set in so he would eat soon but now he couldn't worry about eating, he needed to stay focused on Haley. He walked to Miranda's door and hit the green hologram opening the door and revealing Miranda sitting at her computer typing away, "Hey Miranda EDI said you needed me for something." Ty said. "Yes I need to ask you some questions." Miranda said.

Ty walked in and let the door close behind him and said "Alright ask away." Miranda stopped typing and turned in her seat then got up and walked to the back of her room to the couch and sat down, Ty followed and sat across from her, she picked up five data pads and slid them across the table to him and asked "Do you know any of these people?" Ty picked up the first and saw a name that he could recognize anywhere, "What do you want with him because if this is a hit contract I wont let you kill him?" Ty asked. "I guess you know him and we're not killing any of them we're recruiting and we need more information on him to see if he's reliable." Miranda said.

Ty read the mini description and shook his head and said "Zaeed fucking Massani that crazy asshole is still alive." "You know him well?" Miranda asked. Thankfully they had met on good terms and not with Zaeed contracted to kill him though Ty hoped Zaeed wouldn't be stupid enough to attack anyone he knew, that would definitely put a sour note in their friendship. "Better then most but I haven't spoken to him for about six years, he was the co-founder of the Suns with some guy named Vido something but they disagreed about something, probably how the Suns were being run and Vido turned his people against him and shot him in the face. Zaeed is a reliable guy as long as the pay check is big but he has a bad temper."

_Rage is one hell of an anesthetic,_ Ty thought recalling when Zaeed told him about his survival after getting shot in the face. "But then again I have a bad temper, he cost a lot but he'll be on board for a suicide mission but I assure you he plans on surviving it to get paid, ol Zaeed is gonna freak when he sees me here on this ship." Ty said. Ty could practically hear Zaeed's voice questioning him now, _what in the bloody hell are you doing working with Cerberus and a former Alliance Commander, did someone knock that tiny brain out of your goddamned head or are you just here to kill them all._

Ty passed the data pad back and read the next one quickly, he laughed slightly, _who knew Cerberus would find her, _"There's no way you found her, she must have found you because no one finds Kasumi Goto. She's more illusive than me and probably better looking if you ever saw her without her hood up, Kasumi is the best thief in the universe not the most famous because she knows what the hell she is doing and because I happen to take the most famous part as a side note to my already "prestigious" standing in the galactic community. I did get beat by her once and I paid her back for it by beating her to her loot, she's better then her reputation says she'd be reliable if you could convince her."

Ty passed it back and read the next one, _Asari Justicar, definitely don't know her though I am surprised Cerberus is even considering her since she'd probably just kill us all except for Shepard from what little I know about them._ "And I should know a Justicar why? If I met her she would chase my ass to the end of the galaxy to kill me just based on the reputation I've been given by propaganda." Ty passed it back and read the next one and kind of noticed the name, _Thane Krios, why does that name sound so god damn familiar but yet like I've never heard it before._ "Not sure on this one, the name looks slightly familiar but I'm not sure, I knew a few Drell's but I'm not sure if I know this one."

The last one was someone he knew well but Shepard knew better then he did "Why ask me about Tali Shepard knows her better than me but she also is better than this gives her credit for." "Just trying to get a reference on them." Miranda said. "She's reliable but if you need more ask Shepard me and Tali go back years but I never fought along side her." Ty said. Miranda nodded and said "Alright I will, so do you think Zaeed, Kasumi and Tali would help?" "Zaeed if the paycheck is big enough, Kasumi maybe and Tali definitely if she isn't busy because of her history with Shepard and the other two from what I read about Justicar's they are drawn to impossible odds so probably and the Drell I'm not sure." "I didn't know you could read." Miranda said in a joking manor.

Ty chuckled and stood up then said "There's a lot you and Cerberus don't know about me apparently otherwise you'd have known more about my "condition", do we have any missions today?" "Yes Shepard, Jacob and I are going to try and find Jacobs father since we just received a distress call from the ship he served on." Miranda said. "Alright I'm going to relax then, see you later princess." Ty said. Miranda rolled her eyes at the nickname and said "Alright."

Ty walked out and walked back to his room to relax so when he finally got back into it he walked in front of the glass window and sat down crossed legged on the floor, he relaxed all of his spirit and let everything go quiet around him as he let his mind relax and not allow the memories of his past bother him. Time always felt like it went faster while he meditated because it always seemed when like only seconds had gone by though it had been much longer. Ty heard his doors opened and he figured it was Shepard telling him they were leaving but he only had half of it right.

He looked back and saw Shepard dressed in her dark blue wife beater black jeans and regular shoes, she looked good for someone who had just gotten woken up from death only a few weeks ago but there were still feint glowing scars on her face. "Hey Shepard." Ty said. "Got a couple minutes to spare?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded and motioned her to come in and sit down next to him, she walked in and sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around her legs and asked "So why do you keep so much about yourself secret?"

Ty let the corner of his mouth arc up into a smirk, _they got persistent right when they described her in the news feeds,_ Ty thought. "Makes me interesting, honestly though it was a lesson I learned a long time ago. You should never open up and tell everything about yourself because it just makes it easier for people to hurt you. You're the most inquisitive and persistent I'll give you that much most people take one glance and make up their minds about me or hear one thing about me and form their opinion. Well I'm sure you did to after our original meeting with me pointing a gun in your face." "Yea I thought you were exactly as they said you were…I'm glad I was wrong." Shepard said.

Ty nodded slightly, he wasn't sure how to take that except as compliment which was weird. "Don't judge someone based on their origins or in my case don't judge me because I shoved a gun in your face, but back to your question I don't tell the full story about myself 'cause no one ever wants the full story because no one cares." Ty said. "That's a bad outlook on people." Shepard said. Ty shrugged and said "Maybe but it's also a truthful statement, no one cares in this universe ninety percent of the universe are users and abusers." "And the other ten percent?" Shepard asked. "Are people like me, my family, Darian, all my dead friends, Haley, Jessica, Tali, Garrus and you to name a few." Ty said.

Shepard looked over at Ty and said "Seems you don't have a lot of faith in people alien or human." Ty stared out into space, he didn't have faith in himself was more like it, giving up information to people gave them a shorter knife to cut you with and he had made to many mistakes in the past that led to that knife plunging deep into his heart. He couldn't put faith in anyone besides his family anyway, most everyone wanted him dead though they had no idea why or who he was as a person. "Why should I look at what they did to my grandfather after all he did for the Alliance and aliens alike they just trashed him, look at what they did to you as soon as you were killed, they dumped you like a bad habit all except Anderson, no one on the alien part of the council no one in the Alliance including your old flame believe in you when you're the only fucking person in this universe that those motherfuckers should be listening to." Ty said.

Shepard looked at him with slight shock no doubtly because he had just said that everyone in the galaxy should listen to her, he believed it fully because of what had happened and what he saw on Horizon. Shepard was right and she needed more people on her side, "Sorry Shepard but people are nothing but a let down, the second their asses are on the line they'll do anything to save their own ass except for that ten percent that would do anything for someone else. No one believes that we can do this not even the Illusive man he's just hoping we can pull this off but we are still just puppets to him just like the Collectors are puppets for the Reapers."

Shepard kind of lowered her head and Ty saw it, _shit me and my big mouth,_ Ty thought. "Sorry Shepard I don't mean to bring my negative feelings into this, they don't matter anyway and I don't like that outlook. You don't need me telling you this you got enough to deal with trying to prepare us for the Collectors." "What would you do if you were me?" Shepard asked.

_Personally I'd shoot the Council and the leaders of the Alliance in the knees than step on the wound and get them to give you support,_ Ty thought. "Shit on Horizon was some of the worst shit I have seen but I also couldn't stand to be at the hands of bugs. Seeing how easy the Collectors took the colony and how resilient those bug bastards are really have the crew shaky but we'll all be by your side to the end but I also know for a fact I'm not the only one with personal matters to tie up before we stick our boots up the Collectors ass. Back when I ran my crew I'd always talk to them before a serious mission, get their heads straight, solve personal matters if it looked like we weren't coming back and make sure that none had a clouded mind so I'd talk to everyone in the crew and find out what their personal matters are because if they have a clouded mind when it comes time there will be death." Ty said.

Shepard nodded than asked "You've mentioned your grandfather a few times since I've met you, were you close with him before he died?" Ty nodded as he looked at her and said "Yea it was just him, my dad, my brother and me until he was killed and family is the most important thing to us so we were all close." "You seem to have a bad grudge with the Alliance because of it but do your brother and dad?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled and said "Who ever said Rhoddy's don't hold grudges was a liar, we all have a hatred for Cerberus and the Alliance but we aren't stupid we aren't just going to attack the two biggest human organizations and expect to win." "Would you ever change what happened?" Shepard asked. "I can't but if I could yea I'd make sure he didn't do the contract but since I can't bring him back maybe the Alliance will admit they were wrong and stop the manhunt for my family, highly unlikely I know but a guy can dream right."

Shepard smirked for a second than stopped and said "I'm sorry for snapping at you on Horizon." Ty just chuckled and said "You have nothing to be sorry about; Alliance guys all think I'm evil and my family are all evil mix that with my blackouts and not knowing anything about Haley and you got me pissed off and not wanting to listen to someone bad mouth my family. Disrespecting my family or friends really grinds me the wrong way. I'm sorry for jumping in because he just used me against you to be a dick if I had kept my mouth shut he may not have been as bad." "I'm pretty sure it would've been bad no matter what but I can't blame him, two years I was dead then I just pop back up in his life and I'm using Cerberus to fight the Collectors, people we had seen do terrible things while fighting Saren. I didn't want to tear open old wounds since I knew he would've moved on but I guess there's nothing I could say to make it back to the way it used to be." "Don't blame yourself for it he'll come around and if he doesn't then he isn't worth the hassle of getting upset about." Ty said. "Maybe I should move on." Shepard said.

Ty shrugged, he wasn't one to see about relationship advice definitely about the guy he had seen walk away from his past lover and disrespect him and his family. "Give it time to think about, if you two were as tight as it looked to me then you may hear from him again and if you don't hear from him or you just want to move on then you could go with Garrus you two would work out." "Maybe but there's more then Garrus to pick from." Shepard said. "Mordin and Jacob aren't exactly cream of the crop guys but if you like them then go ahead unless you're into girls then you'll have to find one that isn't against that kinda thing on this ship." Ty said. "You're forgetting someone in that list." Shepard said.

_Who the hell am I forgetting, oh wait that's right,_ Ty thought about it and said "Yea I did, Grunt but he probably isn't interested in relationships he just likes killing things from what I can tell." "Not who I was talking about." Shepard said with a slight laugh. _Who the hell is she talking about then,_ "Well then there's Rupert who I've heard isn't exactly a great chef, Donnelly who I have heard has an Irish accent but apparently is a pig according to one of your crew members, his partner in crime Daniels if your into that, Joker if you like the sound of cracking bones and if he didn't love the ship more then people, Chambers who I'm sure would be more than happy to make sure her Commander is happy." Shepard chuckled slightly as Ty continued "EDI if she wasn't an AI, Zaeed, Kasumi, Tali, Thane, or Samara when you get them, Jack if you want to lose her respect and Chakwas pick your poison if you choose that path." Ty said.

Shepard gave a light laugh and said "Still forgetting someone." _Who the fuc-, oh shit she's talking about me._ "Who me? Come on you wouldn't want to be with a guy like me, I got half of my body almost completely blown off so now I have cybernetics, I'm sarcastic as hell, I can slip into past memories like a Drell and I'm technically an enemy of your people." Ty said. "You're not the only one with Cybernetic parts…And you're not my enemy." Shepard said. "True on both accounts I guess but I don't do that anymore. Tried it once and don't want to try it again." "You may change your mind someday." Shepard said. Ty shook his head_, subject changing time,_ "You're the most persistent person I think I've ever met Shepard, anyway anything else you wanna talk about." "What's your deal with Aria?" Shepard asked.

Ty smirked to himself and Shepard smiled and asked "We close enough for me to ask that?" "Yea its just kinda funny when I think about it, I was thirteen when I started running in the Suns but six months before I had just showed up on Omega for the first time and for starters I understood why my grandfather liked it so much. He'd always go on and on about the chaos and the women that he'd run into and how life on Omega was a true test that only some could survive so I thought alright that's where I'll start. Well you can imagine Rhoddy popped up on Arias sensors and she noticed the name since my dad was a hitman for her for some time until he moved on so she had Grizz come find me, I was being flirted with by an Asari dancer and I was flirting back when Grizz came up and told me Aria wanted to see me."

Shepard nodded and Ty smirked and said "Man I can't forget that meeting I was dragged by Grizz 'cause I didn't know that he meant right away and I was having fun. So after I was kicked in the back of the leg in front of her by Anto then she introduced herself and told me the rules of Omega and how she knew of me and asked my business on Omega. I told her I was looking for work to hone my killing skills because of the manhunt, she smiled and gave me an opportunity to prove myself she needed me to find and kill someone that was trying to take down one of her guys so I asked who the person was because even though I was going to kill for money I had a code and I didn't break it for anyone. That was one thing she liked about me from the start."

Ty kind of chuckled and Shepard just looked at him and said "Hard to imagine Aria liking that, she seems to need people who don't have rules or codes." "Well that's true and some days she hates the fact that I have it but as I said yesterday we have a respect for one another so she knows not to push it. My code makes me efficient though which is one reason she likes it, another reason I think is that I, in a way, have changed that about her. Sometimes she actually isn't such a bad bitch and spares people just to kick them off the station with a death warning and I think because of being around me she has changed slightly because back when we first met she never would have done it. I don't try changing her though I think I just rubbed off on her slightly because of…well we'll get to that in a minute." Ty said.

Ty stretched his back slightly as Shepard nodded absorbing all of what he had said thus far, "Anyway she told me who the guy was and gave me a summary of the guy I agreed and found him quickly and disposed of him efficiently and she had someone watching me without me knowing and was happy with how I worked so she hired me for six months. I was her personal hitman and took out every contract for her even had to go off of Omega for some but those are different stories. At the end of the sixth month Tarak gave me an offer to join the Suns and I wasn't about to just ditch Aria for some merc band but I told him I'd think about it." "Can't imagine that Aria didn't know before you told her." Shepard said.

Ty shook his head and stood up than said "She's got eyes and ears everywhere, I was on my way to tell her when I saw Anto flirting with this human so I butted in and picked her up myself which pissed Anto off, he still hates me for that by the way like really badly but I didn't want him to like beat the woman or something you know because he's a Batarian and she was a human. Nice girl. Anyway he dragged me to Aria because of it and Aria told me she knew about the Suns offer and wanted to know what I was going to do."

Ty sat on the edge of his bed and leaned back on his elbows and continued "Aria doesn't pay her guards terribly but I wouldn't call it great either but me on the other hand I was getting paid a ton for contracts. I didn't do it for the money though and I never really have used the wealth I gained from everything that has happened, Aria knew I didn't want the money but she wanted to make sure I was set up well on Omega. Anything I wanted all I needed to do was ask but I didn't use those benefits often. I told her I was happy working for her and would continue doing it but at the time she was out of contracts so she made me a deal I help her when she needed it and gave her heads up on the Suns movements and we'd be cool so I took it." "The Suns know about you reporting to Aria?" Shepard asked standing up and readjusting the plush chair to face Ty.

Ty nodded, _can't call them complete idiots,_ Ty thought. "The Suns weren't complete morons, they had to figure that but I never told them. So I did my stint in the Suns helping Aria out when she needed it and it worked for two years making me fifteen than the Suns killed my guys, then a two years later, seventeen, they killed another friend then another two years later while I was thieving, which was when I was nineteen, I found someone who was gathering information on Arias guys and some of her other businesses and his own contacts, needless to say I killed him and brought the info to Aria who was not happy to know it slipped passed her guys."

Shepard leaned forward and brought her hands together and said "She couldn't have been happy." Ty laughed and said "She was pissed off at her guys; she biotic bitch slapped one of them so hard that he left an impression on the floor after falling from where she sits to the bottom. She was happy to know I was still keeping my eyes peeled 'cause it had been a year since we talked but she owed me and I knew it so I took advantage of it and got some information on someone I was hunting at the time and we were even but then I guess you can say she saved my ass since a group of guys hired by the Suns were coming after me and I didn't know cause the Suns hired them as freelancers. I was to focused on killing them all that it slipped past me so she gave me a heads up and I killed them all before they attacked."

Ty sat up and rubbed the back of his head and said "And then I owed her which is why you wanted to talk." "Wait a minute what are you brother and dad doing during all this?" Shepard asked. "My brother was working with my dad going after the Suns bases while I hunted the leaders. Before hand though my dad was relaxing and my brother was honing his skills as a mercenary, he was kinda like your old friend Wrex in the essence that he was a loner, didn't like depending on people or being depended on unless its family." Shepard raised an eyebrow and asked "You know Wrex?" "We met once; he probably doesn't remember me though." Ty said though he was sure he had left an impact on him, he knew the other Clan leader would remember him. Shepard nodded and leaned back on her chair and asked "So what did you do to pay back Aria?"

Ty looked away out the window and said "She didn't really give me a choice on how to pay her back, she told me to meet her at some apartment penthouse on Omega before I got there so I did and when I got there she was waiting for me. I asked her what was with the penthouse meeting than she started explaining that she had been watching over me since I was thirteen, watching me grow into who I was I guess you can say. Now I'll tell you right now that some of the stories I have heard from people who have been with Aria really scared the crap out of me. I had been around the block a lot when it comes to sex but everyone I had heard from said that being with Aria was intense but left it at that so I was thinking a long the lines of, "she's going to tie my ass up and rape me."

Shepard grinned slightly at Ty's expense though he was completely serious in what he thought; he was seriously worried she was going to tie him up and shove a ball gag in his mouth and rape him that day. "Maybe she is different with others but it hadn't been what I thought it was going to turn into. Aria crafted the deal that day because, I'm paraphrasing her words by the way, "she wanted to get inside of my head and see where things went between us." She really liked me, like more than I thought she did. I saw her as a friend and one of my contractors and I don't think I ever thought about her in any way but that. That changed that day, she melded with me during it all and I don't know if you know a lot about Asari physiology but there are different levels to melds and thank the greater spirit she didn't use the meld that makes them have kids, I was so not ready to be a father at that time, still not but I think I figured out why people called her intense because my mind joining has nothing on hers."

Shepard smirked and put her hands out in a stop motion and said "Whoa whoa whoa so Aria likes you, do you like her like that back?" Ty smirked and said "I told you Shepard I don't do relationships and I told her that but I still had to pay her back and since in that moment I had a very short amount of time to make sure that I found her attractive on more than a physical level I made a mental check of everything I found attractive about her from facial features and eyes to personality and then her body. Never considered her age until afterwards, don't know what that says but I did find her attractive in certain aspects and I agreed to the deal. We had sex and she melded with me and after that we always have been close and anytime I had to pay her back we'd do that so whenever she gives me the information that's what I have to do."

Shepard had what Ty referred to as a stupid grin on her face but he attempted to ignore it and continued "So when I was twenty one you started going after Saren and you killed him and Sovereign than further in that year and two and a half years after melding and having sex with "the pirate queen of Omega" having an on again off again friends with benefits thing a few months after the initial meld you get blown up by the Collectors and I start looking into Cerberus and helping Aria out here and there melding with her when I owed her. Two years after that I get in a fight with Tarak and his goons that turned Omega upside down then for two months I was on the Cerberus facility and then me and Aria met again and then we met." _And hopefully soon I can add, and then I killed Haley's captors and saved her to that,_ Ty thought.

**A/N: Okay two things, the first is that I have a recommendation for you all, this is entirely up to all of you readers out there and I wont be offended or anything if you don't do it but while I was looking for some inspiration for future chapters I went onto youtube, which I own nothing of just in case I need to put a disclaimer here that belongs to the respectful owners of whoever owns it, and I typed in Mass Effect tribute. Now I know I have stated many times that I'm a big nerd but I promise you if you watch these two videos I'm about to ask you to watch there is no way you will be completely disappointed. It will bring you on a nostalgic journey of Mass Effect and if, like me, you fell deeply in love with the universe then you will really enjoy the videos. The first is called Mass Effect 3: Hope (fan tribute), great video, also I do not own anything from that, that belongs to the person who posted it and Bioware/E/A since they made the games from which he created the video from. The other is called Mass Effect Squad Tribute – True Strength, which I also do not own anything of and that belongs to the person who made the video and Bioware/E/A who created the universe. Now I know some might think that it's a fan made tribute video and those all suck, trust me I thought it would to but the damn things proved me wrong and I promise if you do watch it you will not be disappointed. If you don't then you also wont be disappointed because you didn't watch it, either way if you do watch them let me know if I led you astray or not. I don't endorse not watching it without a box of tissues to the extra sensitive, you have been warned. I also am not endorsing anything or anyone in general just in case I need to put that in there. Anyway my second thing to my first, I thought of something funny that's based on my last chapters ending author note and I'm putting it at the end here, so I will see you next time.**

**Nuclear Meltdown in T-Minus – Two chapters, get to the bunkers now for preparation.**


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The Path of Vengeance

**A/N/Disclaimer: I don't own the Mass Effect Universe, all of that belongs to Bioware/E/A. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe. Onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Shepard had that smile on her face again, that stupid grin that would prove to be the only warning Ty would get before she gave him a question that she knew he would not particularly enjoy but would answer anyway. "So you looking forward to melding again?" Shepard asked. Ty shrugged, it would always be fun and would make his mind feel tingly but it wasn't about getting laid for him right now, it was about finding Haley and since Aria was about the only person he trusted to find her quicker than he could or his family could that meant he had to pay back the usual way whether he liked the idea or not though he hoped she'd let him get her first before paying her back otherwise their deal would hit a bump in the road. "Eh its fun and sensual and a bunch of other details I'll leave out but not the best I ever had, she's great but definitely not the best I've had and I've had almost every alien race except ones like Elcor, Hanar, Krogans, Salarian's, etcetera etcetera." "Turian?" Shepard asked.

Ty actually had to think about that one, he searched his memory banks for any Turians when he saw her, the red markings on her face he should have remembered instantly, "Yea there was one I met on Omega that was a biotic and there were a few others who wanted to but I never got around to it. Interesting experience, passionate woman to, and surprisingly flexible but I had assumed Turians would be all stiff." Ty said. "Drell." Shepard asked. "Ummm…yea one, pretty trippy too." Ty said with a chuckle remembering the hallucinations. "Quarian?" Shepard asked. That struck a broken heart string in Ty making him glance down for a second before looking back up to change the subject "Yea one, anyway that's mine and Arias deal I help her she gives me information she helps me I meld with her." Ty said. "I guess that explains what she meant when I asked her about you when we met on Omega." Shepard said.

Ty raised one of his eyebrows, Aria rarely spoke to anyone about Ty and the fact she spoke to Shepard about him was actually quite shocking. "What she say about me?" Ty asked. "She smiled when I asked if she knew anything about you then told me she knew a lot about you and you knew a lot about her. She said you were a good guy and to watch out because you were on a mission of your own and not in a good mood. Also said you lived by a respect code and were as likely to charm a woman as you were to kill someone without a second thought in public and that was something that always intrigued her about you." Shepard said. Ty nodded, that definitely sounded like him and definitely sounded like Aria's way of describing him "Glad to clear up the confusion for you, you should probably go find Jacobs father I've taken up more then a minute of your time." "I don't mind your fun to talk to." Shepard said standing up.

Ty smirked, he didn't know if fun was the right word to describe how it would be to talk to him but he appreciated her taking the time to talk to him, a lot of minor things he had been holding against himself had been solved thanks to being on this squad and thanks to her talking to him. She treated him better than he ever expected and better than he probably deserved. "Thanks Shepard, you coming down here and listening to me talk about my past has let me square away some things mentally...You've treated me as an equal instead of treating me like the most wanted criminal propaganda asshole that everyone claims me to be. You treat me like an actual person and that means a lot." "You're a good man Ty you don't deserve what happened to you and your family." Shepard said.

That was actually shocking to hear from her since she was an Alliance soldier and they were apart of his blacklisting. Ty nodded to her in appreciation and said "Thanks Shepard it means a lot coming from someone whose life is the Alliance. See ya when you get back Shep, thanks for coming down to talk." "You're welcome Ty." Shepard said as she walked out. Ty laid down completely and let his legs hangover with his hands behind his head; he stared into the stars and relaxed himself completely. Ty closed his eyes and cleared his mind of everything so he could rest.

An Hour Later

Ty once again was awoke by a strange beeping noise but this one was coming from his Omni-tool, he sat up and shook the cob webs from his head and hit a button on his Omni-tool and said in a slightly still tired voice "Yea." "I got your information and Tarak wasn't bullshitting." Aria answered back. Ty's brain woke up once when he heard the word information, the name Tarak sent it into overdrive, he could finally save her. Ty stood up and said "No shit, are we meeting to discuss this or what?" "No time for that you've got to get to Illium and save your friend, you can pay me back after." Aria said. Ty started getting his gear on and said "Why isn't there time and don't bullshit with me Aria, not about this." "They're experimenting with biotics on her, I don't have all the details on why but its sounds pretty bad even for Scrum."

_Experimenting on her with biotics? Those motherfuckers I swear I'm gonna rip their fucking heads off!_ Ty thought. Though Ty never liked Scrum he had to agree with Aria since Scrum never dipped into the darker side of being a merc when he had known him, and that was saying something since he was a Batarian and most Batarian mercenaries were vicious. "Alright rent a place on Illium unless you own one and I'll meet you there afterwards, what part of Illium is he at?" Ty asked. "You can get to him from Nos Astra I'll give you more when you get there, hurry up time may be running out for her." Aria said.

Ty walked up to EDIs console and said "Thanks for the help Aria I'll talk to you soon." Ty turned off his Omni-tool and said "EDI I need to talk to you right now." EDI popped up and asked "What is it Ty?" "How long till Shepard gets back?" Ty asked. "My scans show they are closing in on Jacobs's father, I estimate they will be done within the hour." EDI answered. That was way to long, he had to act now and get Haley out of there before they did anything worse than they already had done, "Shit, alright I gotta go right now I just gained information on where Haley is and I have to act now so I need you to give her a message." EDI turned red and said "I cannot allow you to leave the Normandy I do not have the authorization." "EDI do you trust me?" Ty asked. "Trust is not in m-"

That was a bunch of bullshit, she may be an A.I. and programmed by Cerberus but she still knew what those things were and she was able to deem if she did or not. Ty interrupted EDI and said "EDI I didn't ask what you were programmed to do I asked if you trusted me." EDI was silent for a couple seconds contemplating her answer "….Yes Ty I do." "I will be back EDI I give you all my word on that so please EDI give Shepard a message for me." Ty said. "What is the message?" EDI asked. "Tell her that I got information on my kidnapped friend and I didn't have time to wait, don't let her freak out or panic, interrupt her if you must and tell her to go to Nos Astra on Illium and talk to her friend Liara T'Soni she will have information on me. If Miranda interrupts tell her I know Liara and she can be trusted, Liara will have a message for them on my progress, can you do that for me?" Ty asked.

EDI turned her regular blue again and said "Yes Ty I can, anything else you need?" "One last thing tell Jack and Garrus to be ready to go with Shepard when she gets back her biotics and his sniping might be needed." Ty said as he started walking towards his door. "I will, be safe Ty." EDI said. "I promise I'll be back EDI tell them all that to." Ty said as he walked out.

Ty had his hood up and all his gear on as he slightly jogged to the elevator, he got in and hit the cargo hold button and waited impatiently for it to descend. Ty brought his Omni-tool up and dialed his brother and waited for him to pick up, ring…rin- "Ty what's up." Z answered. "Are you busy?" Ty asked impatiently. "No me, Daddy, Darian and Jess are just talking, what's up? You sound troubled?" Z asked. "I found Scrum and Haley we gotta go right now." Ty said.

Ty could practically feel his brother shock on the other end, "No shit where at?" Z asked. The doors opened and Ty jogged towards his space bike and said "Nos Astra on Illium, get moving I'll meet you there." "See ya soon." Z said. Ty hung up and got to his space bike and started checking it over real quick to make sure it was still flyable and had enough fuel for the relay hopping he was about to do, everything still looked good but he was going to have to refuel next time they stopped to refuel. As he began to get on he heard Jacks voice, "So where you think you're going?" Jack asked. "No time to talk Jack I gotta go so ask EDI." Ty said getting on his bike.

Jack got next to him and said "Alright but one thing I need to know just in case you get yourself killed again." _Well isn't that confidence boosting_, Ty thought. "Thanks for the confidence Jack." Ty said starting his bike up. "What was her name?" Jack asked. "Her name is Haley but as I said ask EDI." Ty answered. Jack slapped his arm and said "No not her dick I meant your Quarian girlfriend they murdered in front of you."

That hit Ty hard and he had a sudden flash of her in his head, _"Ka'Reena I promise I'm going to get you out of this, let her go you pieces of shit she has nothing to do with this!" Ty yelled at Tarak and Jedore. Jason and Scrum weren't there anymore but it was Scrum who had given them the information to find her, "Ty, promise me you'll continue to live life as you have with me if I don't make it." Ka'Reena said. Ty stared in awe at her blue mask; there was no way that he was going to let her die let alone move on if she did. Ty shook his head getting that thought out of his head and looked at her and said "You aren't going to die." "Wrong." Jedore said with a smirk as she pointed her pistol at Ka'Reena's head. "I'll always be with you my love." Ka'Reena said. "Don't you fucking dare Jedore don-" _

_Jedore fired her pistol off right into the back of Ka'Reena's head. Blood sprayed out and Ka'Reena fell to the floor with a thump cracking her blue mask but not shattering it. Ty's legs caved in as he feel to his hands and knees seeing Ka'Reena dead on the ground, Jedore aimed at him but Tarak pushed her pistol down and said "Leave him, you've killed him already we'll finish the job after its sunk in that everyone he knew died because of him." Ty heard their footsteps leave as he felt hot tears coming out of his eyes as he stared at Ka'Reena's body, "Ka'Reena." Ty choked out. There was no answer though he hadn't expected one, the silence that swallowed them both was deafening and that day all that was left of his heart was torn from his chest and destroyed leaving an empty shell of a person who was once full of life. "I'm sorry." _

Ty shook the memory from his head before the tears welled in his eyes and looked at Jack as he answered "Her name was Ka'Reena nar Ryya." Ty said. "You loved her didn't you?" Jack asked with a little bit of emotion in her voice. There wasn't a word for how much he loved her, the bottom part of Ty's mask activated as he said "She was the breath in my body and the love of my life, now she's my guide on this path of vengeance, you wanted to know why I'm a vengeful asshole who doesn't let anyone get close to him, especially women, its because I had felt love before and all it did was kill me on the inside, see ya around Jack."

The rest of Ty's mask activated covering his eyes as the cargo bay door opened, Ty flew down and out of the Normandy and started flying to the closest Mass Relay, as he got close EDI popped up on his bike and said "Ty you are approaching the Mass Relay plot your destination." "Get me to Illium EDI." Ty said. "Destination set get ready for mass acceleration." EDI said. When Ty had worked on his bike the "installation" EDI had been monitoring was her own installation onto his bike, he didn't completely unshackle her but he did "borrow" an enough of her quantum blue box that she had free reign between his bike and his Omni-tool which were connected to one another. She was definitely going to be much more fun to talk to than his old VI.

As Ty prepared his Relay Hop to the Crescent Nebula and the Tasale System where Illium was located he began to gain speed until he hit the Relay and began Relay Hopping. "Prepare for deceleration." EDI said. The bike began to decelerate as he came out of his final Relay Hop, Ty saw Illium in the distance, hold on a little longer Haley I'm almost there, Ty thought. "Jump successful Ty." EDI said. "Thanks EDI, Shepard back on the Normandy yet?" Ty asked. "No they are talking to Jacobs father now but I have coordinates set for Illium for when they get back, Miranda wished to speak to you about sparring but I explained you were gone. She was less than pleased but when I told her why I believe she began to understand why you left. Shepard and Jacob will debrief with the Illusive Man as we head to Illium and it should take us about thirty minutes." EDI answered. Ty sighed, he felt bad ditching since Shepard wanted to help him but he couldn't leave Haley at the hands of these bastards any longer. "Alright I'll keep you updated EDI and patch Shepard in after you give her my message." Ty said. "Yes Ty." EDI said.

Ty brought his bike down to Nos Astra and landed in the docking bay his family had, having their own personal docking bays was important to being successful at traversing the Galaxy's main ports. Ty got off his bike and began walking towards where he remembered Liara being but called Aria as he walked, she answered immediately "You at Illium now?" Aria answered. "Yea I'm there, where's Scrum?" Ty asked. "Their facility to the east past the Dantius towers shouldn't be hard to find it's the only facility they have in that area." Aria said. "Alright east past the Dantius towers got it, I'll be in touch." Ty said. "Don't get yourself killed." Aria said. _More confidence boosting, thanks guys, _Ty thought. "I won't Aria; Haley won't suffer the same fate as Ka'Reena." Ty said.

Aria knew of what happened since Grizz and Ty had told her after it happened, the Suns taking Ka'Reena had slipped through her net but when she found out that it was happening right under her nose she sent Grizz to assist Ty but he arrived moments after they killed her. "That wasn't your fault Ty those bastards are the ones who killed her not you. You didn't know Tarak would take it that far and somehow he got it past my people."

_I should have known though, I ran with the four eyed bastard and he had my guys killed and tried to get me to sell women and children into slavery._ "I was ignorant to think he wouldn't take it that far, I ran with them for two and a half years and I knew each person and how far they'd take something and the thing that matter to me most at the time I didn't protect and she was killed Aria while I stood by trying to defuse the situation instead of killing them all where they stood. Now again I saved Haley and didn't fucking keep my eyes on her and now who knows how fucked up she is." Ty said as he got closer to Liara's office.

Aria sighed, Ty had only heard that sigh a few times and that meant she was about to unload on him and give him a reality check of some sort. "You've had this ass ripping coming for a while, do you really think she'd blame you for what happened to her Ty, I mean seriously do you because if you do than you are fucking ignorant. I watched you both and she cared for you more than you did for her and that's saying a fucking lot because of how much you loved Ka'Reena. Do you really fucking think that she would have began getting her body adapted to yours if she didn't cherish being around you, huh? Now not only did I see you and her but I saw you and Haley too, she trusted you with her life the moment you two met. They wouldn't blame you for what those fuckers did to them. The only thing you could've done to save them both was put them in a fucking cell until you took out all the people you've been hunting since you were fucking fifteen. Ty after you save this girl and kill Scrum you need to get your head out of your ass and back in the game and get back to who you were before you started down this path that has destroyed everything everyone loves about you and made you push everyone away." Aria snapped off.

Ty didn't say anything because he knew it was true, he had pushed almost everyone away except his family; even Darian hadn't seen Ty for years until he started hunting Cerberus and they were always close. He hated it, he hated the hell he was living in day in day out but he thought he deserved it for what had happened. Maybe Aria was right, he needed to get his head back in the game. "You better be fucking listening to me because I'm only telling you this because I care Ty otherwise I would've told you to go fuck yourself and killed you a long time ago." Aria said. Ty chuckled and stopped at Liara's stairs and said "I know Aria you aren't much for giving grade A ass ripping's unless you care…I'll work on it all alright and I'll attempt to make up the last seven years to you after I'm done, you deserve that much and more for everything you've done for me over the years." Ty could feel Aria smiling as she said "I look forward to it now get your ass moving Haley's life is on the line."

Ty hung up and jogged up the stairs and walked past Nyxeris and into the room, "Hey you can't just walk in there." Nyxeris said. Oh he believed he could after what he and Liara had gone through after Shepard died, Ty got in the room and said "Liara T'Soni I find your security a bit lacking I could have shot you about five times by now and impaled your head with my tomahawk." Liara smiled without looking up as she had one hand holding a data-pad she was reading and the other in her lap, "Please I had you pinged right when you landed and I saw you coming before you even took three steps in this direction, if I felt threatened I would have ripped you apart with my biotics as soon as the doors opened." "Still feisty as ever, anyone ever tell you the sunset on Illium accents your eyes and skin very well I mean you look gorgeous holding that pistol between your legs." Ty said.

Liara's smile got bigger as she brought her other hand up and put the pistol on the table, "Still charming as ever, sorry can't be too sure on Illium." Liara said. "Hey no worries I understand but you shouldn't ever worry about me killing you, honestly I think our relationship has advanced." Ty said with a smirk. Liara seemed to remember the reference judging on the smile on her face, "That wasn't my fault you know that, we had little choice and it isn't as if I intended for that to happen, I didn't want us to land that way." "I believe the blush that covered your face said differently and your eyes totally were thinking differently." Ty said.

Ty looked back and saw Nyxeris lean against the wall behind him, he didn't like the look she had but he turned back to Liara who was attempting to stop the blush she had coming on, "Hmm you still get embarrassed, I guess you didn't spend enough time around me." Ty said. "I believe you are the reason why I still get embarrassed actually, can we move on please?" Liara asked. Ty smirked slightly and said "Sure, Goddess I'd hate to embarrass you further." Liara shook her head slightly also catching that reference, "I hate myself sometimes." Liara muttered under her breath. Ty chuckled out loud which surprised Liara who had thought she was quiet enough but Ty's hearing picked it up, "Its been a while Liara but I got information for you surprisingly."

That got her attention quickly, as she became more serious "What do you have?" Liara asked. "Commander Shepard is going to stop by looking for me." "What? How do you know?" Liara asked now interested. Ty couldn't resist "She's hunting me, trying to kill me actually." Ty answered as non-caringly as he could without laughing. "What?!" Liara yelped. "You know the Alliance wants me dead." Ty said as he did everything in his power not to start laughing or smile. "Yes but I had reports that Cerberus wanted to recruit you not-…you aren't being serious are you?" Liara asked.

Ty laughed a little at how flustered Liara had become then raised his hands in a surrendering motion and said "You caught me, sharp as ever though I am surprised you believed me." "You are very believable when you want to be." Liara answered with a slight smile. "True, honestly though I had to leave the Normandy since I have been fighting with her since she recruited me so she is looking for me and she has a message to ask you about me. I need you to tell her that I'm at the Blue Suns facility to the east past the Dantius towers and that I have back up. She'll need directions so do you know where that is?" Ty asked. "Ty I know this place better than anyone, don't worry I will tell her but after she's done helping you I may need both your help." Liara said.

Ty nodded, that was fair and he had been meaning to help her eventually to get back Feron, the Shadow Broker had to pay for that one. "I'll help you don't worry, oh and give her this." Ty pulled up his Omni-tool and grabbed a data pad and transferred the information onto it, he gave it to Liara and said "This is everything I know of the situation and some of the schematics to the building it should help her out." Liara nodded and said "Alright I'll make sure she gets it, be careful Ty." Ty started walking out and said "I will, see ya soon Liara."

Ty walked out and down as he called his brother hoping they were already waiting for him on Illium, rin…"We're on Illium where we meeting at?" Z answered. "Their facility in the east past the Dantius Towers." Ty said. "It's always got to be the biggest one doesn't, probably on the top floor to uncreative bastards." Z said. Ty chuckled and said "Yea they probably have defenses up around the building so we'll have to scout it before hand." "Already done we got a layout of every facility they have here and all their weapon systems, the one we're going to has an entrance right…ah the 95th floor." Z said. "And let me guess we get to fight our way up the other five to the top." Ty said jogging back to his bike. "Nope just four floors they only built it to ninety nine floors, weird you think that they'd just add another floor for an even one hundred." Z said. "Alright I'll see you on the 95th floor then." Ty said.

As he got on his bike EDI popped up and Ty said "EDI tell Shepard that there's an entrance on the 95th floor when you can and tell her Liara has more information on the place." "They are debriefing now and we are about to make our final Mass Jump to the Tasale System but I will inform her when they finish." EDI said. "Thanks EDI you're the best." Ty said as his mask full mask activated and he lifted off.

As he flew across Illium to the Blue Suns facility that happened to be a skyscraper he tried to ease the tension in his body that was forming, he could feel his anger building up and his demon thrashing about inside him just waiting break free. He couldn't let it free though, not without good reason to because once it was released he wasn't sure if he would ever break its hold again. It took him years the last time it happened and if something worse happened to Haley…He didn't want to think about the worse possibilities or what would become of him if he let his anger control him once again, he didn't like his odds of breaking its hold. He knew of one way he would be able to let it loose and come back but he didn't want to rely on that, that was a dark path and he wanted to just save Haley and be done with the Suns for good.

As he neared the base he broke out of traffic and flew straight up climbing the skyscraper quickly when EDI popped up and said "You are nearing the 95th floor would you like me to land when you reach the floor." "Yea, any idea if anyone knows I'm flying up the building or if my family is there yet?" Ty asked. "Internal scans show that there hasn't been an alarm raised yet and there are two life signatures on the floor you wish to land on." EDI said. "Good." Ty said.

Ty reached the floor and EDI landed his bike on the floor where his brother and dad were waiting with their own variations of space bikes his dads with a purple glow and his brothers with a neon green glow. Ty got off his and said "EDI patch yourself into my Omni-tool so we have constant communication." EDI disappeared off his bike and his Omni-tool popped up with a EDIs blue hologram, he couldn't help but smile just because he liked EDI and giving her more access than her small programming had to be slightly freeing for her compared to the shackles, "You're so cool EDI don't let anyone tell you differently." Ty said with a smile. "Thank you Ty." EDI said then disappeared.

Ty walked up to his dad and brother, his brother was sitting in the seat of his space bike fully while he leaned forward on the handle bars. His dad was sitting sideways in his seat while he played with one of his throwing knives. Now his brother was 26, 5'11 and 195 lbs. of pure muscle which made him stockier than Ty was but all his muscles were finely defined like his younger brother but Z had more of it. They both shared the same tan complexion and long dark brown hair but Z had wavier hair then Ty did and never ever ponytailed it stating that "It restricts the freedom I feel." To which Ty always retorted with "Yea but whose hair gets in his face and could possibly mess up a shot."

They shared a lot of the same facial features, full eyebrows, round eyes, high cheek bones, normal sized nose, slim jaw and their big smiles and perfect teeth but one thing they differed on was their eye color. His brother's irises were different than Ty's, instead of being purple Z's were bright neon green and like Ty's they filled out the white of his eyes when he visited past moments or lost control of his temper. Other than sharing the same facial features they also shared a somewhat similar personality, they both liked bantering in sarcasm and both lived by the code that had been taught to them since they were kids, Z was a bit more of a happy go lucky guy though, or as his family said "Fun time Z."

They liked helping people in need and both would kill any who messed with their friends or family but they differed on certain subjects. Z would have never gave Shepard the time of day, he wouldn't have killed her because she is the only reason the Reapers didn't kill everyone two years ago but he wouldn't have joined the mission, definitely with Miranda there. He had stronger feelings against Cerberus and the Alliance than Ty did, Ty hated them for what they did but if the need was dire he'd work with someone like Shepard, though if Cerberus by themselves approached him he'd probably just had shot them dead on Omega. The Alliance were assholes but Cerberus was evil, Ty could work with assholes, he couldn't work with evil. Z hated working with assholes and killed evil at the smell of it.

Z wore a black wife beater and black jean shorts with black and white skater shoes and fingerless black gloves. His weapons of choice were a Carnifix Hand Cannon, a customized Avenger assault rifle he had strapped to the back of his waist like Ty's sniper that was black with green trim with RBZ 4 Life engraved on the side of it and finally a katana that was strapped to his back that he trained himself to be able to dual wield with either gun. The katana had a black and purple hilt and a black and green fringe hanging off of it with RBZ 4 Life Family Forever engraved into the sword itself. He was covered in more tattoos than Ty was but the ones that stuck out was RBZ 4 Life on his left forearm, a wolf head on his lower belly, an eagle across his chest with the word Believe above it, a blue nine sided star on his left shoulder and a combination of Buddhism, Hinduism and Japanese art on his arms where there weren't tattoos and also on his back.

Their dad, or Mr. Rhoddy as most called him, was 6'0 and 210 lbs. of pure solid muscle; he was also 55 years old and could outwork both his sons. He had all the same facial features as his sons but then again that's where they got it from though his eyes were a normal green, a vibrant green but it was a normal human color. He was tan but unlike his sons he went in the sun a lot though even if he didn't he'd still be tan. His face didn't show that he was 55 and his body sure didn't either since he, like his sons, practiced parkour and could do handstand push ups like it was going out of style.

He had long ponytailed hair that was dirty blonde and a mustache and soul patch in the shape of a downward triangle, he wore a dark purple V-neck T-shirt and long black cargo shorts with black motorcycle boots. He also wore the RBZ 4 life tattoo on his left forearm and he had many other Native American tattoos on his body from feathers to animals and special designs. His weapons of choice was one sawed off Scimitar shotgun and a heavy Predator pistol and a custom Avenger assault rifle that was black with purple trim. He inherited the throwing knife tradition and had many holsters from his sides to his boots that held a custom knife.

The code that Z and Ty lived by was taught to them by their father and their father learned it from his father, Mr. Rhoddy had raised his sons to live by their code and not break it for anyone. Their father now, exception of the latest hunt for the Suns, didn't go out to fight as much, he was looking to retire from their way of life before it killed him so he could relax on a beach somewhere with his sons in peace and let their legends become exactly that, a legend.

The life they lived wasn't exactly glamorous and Mr. Rhoddy was tired of running since he had been for almost twenty years from the Alliance and more than that since his father was alive. He didn't have as much hate for the Alliance anymore, he didn't really hate anything anymore exception of Cerberus, because he had spent years harboring his hatred on someone and when he was finally able to release it all he was robbed of it. Ty and Z didn't know who their father would go ape shit on because he never showed anger around them but they knew well enough that if someone did earn his hatred than they really did something bad. Ever since that fight though their father hadn't spent time with hate and anger and he tried teaching Ty and Z that but they got his stubbornness.

Ty got to them both and they both got off of their bikes allowing Ty to hug them both as he said "Glad you guys came on this." "He's the last one from what happened its only right that we finish what we joined in on." Z said. "I see you brought along a friend from the Normandy." Mr. Rhoddy said. Ty chuckled and said "EDI this is my dad and brother guys this is EDI an AI on the Normandy who has now been installed onto my space bike and Omni-tool." EDI popped up and said "It's a pleasure to meet you." "You to, alright so this place is going to be well fortified more than the others, what's our plan?" Mr. Rhoddy asked.

Ty shrugged, planning wasn't one of his strongest qualities, "Go in clear floor by floor look for clues on Haley find her, save her and kill Scrum." Ty said. "You think it'll be that simple?" Z asked. Ty laughed and said "Hell no but a guy can dream right." "There may be more than one way in from here like an air duct maybe we can utilize that for a tactical advantage." Mr. Rhoddy said. Ty pulled up a scan on the building and it showed an air duct on the building off the platform, "Well that puts a little damper on Christmas." Ty said. Z chuckled slightly and said "Maybe you forgot but we're all trained in parkour that means we can get to that from here if there is stuff to climb."

Z walked away and scouted the side of the building, Ty saw a pole protruding out of the building then another higher right next to the air duct. "I got the air duct you two can go in through the front door." Z said. "Be careful." Ty said. Z jumped to the first pole then started swinging on it until he was able to get on top of it with his feet, he jumped to the higher pole then shimmied over to the air duct and pulled himself in and his voice came through Ty's earpiece "I'm always careful, I'll update you if I hear anything on Scrum or Haley." Z said.

Ty pulled out his pistols and said "So Daddy you ready for the final stretch on this road of vengeance and redemption." Mr. Rhoddy pulled out his pistol and sawed off shotgun and said "Ready when you are." Ty and his dad went through the door and an alarm went off, "Can't say I didn't expect that." Ty said as they started jogging through the complex looking for enemies. They turned the corner where there were some low walls for cover in front of them and across from them; six guys were waiting for them one with a rocket launcher, a Turian with an assault rifle and four regular ground soldiers with pistols or shotguns.

Ty and Mr. Rhoddy took cover behind the same low wall and Ty said "Just like the good old days right." "When were those again?" Mr. Rhoddy joked. Ty smirked and got out of cover and shot two of the regular soldiers in the head and hit the Turians shield three times before being forced into cover because of the amount of gunfire. "I taught you better than that you're supposed to do this." Mr. Rhoddy said.

He stood up and with his pistol shot the other two regular soldiers in the head, the rocket launcher girl in the chest twice and punctuated it with another head shot on the Turian; Ty smirked as his dad got back into cover and said "That's how it's done." "Cocky bastard." Ty said still smirking. Ty and his dad got out of cover and started walking cautiously through the building, "Ty just heard Scrums voice over a communicator he said he knows you and daddy are there and has taken the girl with him to the top floor, also said you were a piece of shit looking for an already dead bitch." Z whispered through his comm. Ty's fuse was lit but he said "Alright keep moving and be stealthy we just cleared some guys out but there will be more, there's always more."

**A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one, it took me two days to get it exactly how I liked and you might want to expect that for the next as well since the next is an important chapter, it is Ty's loyalty mission and I have to make sure I get it just right with everything that goes on during it so it may or may not be up tomorrow. I am slightly excited for the next chapter though just because of what it contains though I hope it turns out as high as my hopes are and it doesn't fall flat on its face, that would suck for all involved I believe. Anyway not much else to say except thank you to those reading and those who follow and favorite this story, we are fifteen chapters down, sixteen actually if you include the prologue but that's besides the point, and I still have a long road planned ahead so thank you for showing your support early and I hope I keep you entertained through the whole journey. So thank you to all of you who read this and I will see you next time.**

**Nuclear Meltdown T-Minus: One chapter, evacuate as soon as possible go to ground and hope that the shit doesn't hit you.**


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

End of the Road the Demon Unleashed

**A/N/Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Mass Effect Universe, that belongs to Bioware/E/A. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not part of the actual Mass Effect Universe. I apologize for the delay on this chapter but I hope it turned out good.**

** Nuclear Meltdown imminent! Duck in Cover! Violence is coming! You have been warned! RUN!**

"I wish we had more time to catch up Shepard but right now you need to go help Ty." Liara said. Shepard stood on the other side of the table that had her old friend sitting behind it as she nodded in agreement with her. Miranda had apparently contacted EDI to talk to Ty back on the Normandy while she was waiting for Shepard to finish with Jacobs father and learned that Ty wasn't even on the Normandy anymore, after Shepard had finished up with Jacobs father Miranda told her and Jacob on the ride back that he had left to go save his friend without any help.

At first Shepard got a little agitated with him, she had thought at first that he wasn't thinking and was just reacting to the situation instead of waiting for Shepard to get back and go in with a team. She had promised to help him out and she didn't like the fact he was making her break her own promise but then she thought about it more, Ty didn't react without thinking through what he was doing just like back on Omega. He knew what he was doing getting himself blow to hell and back for her and Miranda though he probably didn't think he would get impaled. Then Shepard thought about it even more, his friend Haley was captured at the hands of this mercenary group doing god knows what to her and any second longer she spent with them could either mean death or more pain.

The more and more Shepard thought about it she began to understand his motives for just up and leaving, he'd no doubt call his family for back up and if they moved as fast as he did then they'd more than likely be there when he arrived. One thing that had Shepard actually worried was what Ty was walking into, despite all the Illusive Man's bullshit he had been right about Ty's abilities and if his sources were right then if he lost his temper they were all in for a show of some sort. Shepard and Jack had seen it slightly back on Korlus but he seemed to manage to keep his anger still chained but she saw some of it seep through. "Liara do you know anything about what he is going to find there?" Shepard asked. "You are worried about his legendary temper I take it?" Liara asked.

Shepard nodded though she was surprised Liara knew about it but it seemed Shepard was the only one who didn't really know as much about Ty as everyone else though that had began to change recently. "He left me a data-pad to give you…here it is, this has all the information you need but if you want a quick overview of what it says than know that your worry of his temper is well placed. They are experimenting on his friend and if he sees anything or hears anything that pertains to what they did you may see him lose control." Liara said as she gave Shepard the data-pad. "Why do I get the feeling there's more to his temper than everyone is letting on?" Garrus asked. "Because there is but there is no time for me to explain that, you need to get to him soon otherwise you may lose him." Liara said. Shepard saw a look in Liara's eye that worried her, "Lose him?" Shepard asked. "You will need to ask him I'm not sure how to explain it other than when he loses his temper he changes." Liara answered.

That was almost exactly how the Illusive man explained it and it also was probably the only information she was going to get out of Liara about it, she had to go help Ty if he really did change. She felt a sudden protectiveness over him though she wasn't sure why, he was one of her crew but this felt different. "I'll come by after I'm done helping Ty out so we can catch up." Shepard said as she stood up. Liara nodded and said "I look forward to it; I hope you get Ty and his friend out of there safely." "Thanks Liara." Shepard said. As Shepard walked out with Jack and Garrus in tow she opened up her omni-tool to call Ty, hopefully he was still okay.

* * *

Ty and his dad were in cover as rounds impacted against the corner Ty was taking cover against and the low wall his dad was sitting with his back against, they had advanced further into the building but ran into the twenty Blue Suns who were trying their best to kill them both. Ty blind fired around the corner hoping to hit someone just to lighten up the fire while his dad looked like he was relaxing against the low wall. "I should have invited Grunt, he would've loved this." Ty said as he stopped blinding firing and rested his head against the wall. Mr. Rhoddy looked over to him with a raised eyebrow as he asked "I take it he's a Krogan?" "Yup genetically built and is huge, he loves fighting more than any Krogan I have met I think." Ty said. Mr. Rhoddy nodded slightly then got into a crouch before standing up and shooting down field with precise shots, he got back into cover and said "Now this reminds me of the good old days, that is five more for me by the way."

Ty not wanting to be outdone just yet by his dad put his pistols away and pulled his sniper out than got out of cover and aimed down his sights, he saw four guys near each other so he took a deep breath and let it out than took another and held it as time began to slow for him, the first guy he aimed at actually began to go back into cover but he wasn't quick enough as Ty pulled the trigger and the round pierced through his skull. Ty moved to the next guy who was a Batarian and Ty pulled the trigger again sending a round right in between his four eyes, the next round he fired pierced the next mercenary in the throat making him drop his gun and grab at his throat as he fell to the ground. The last mercenary was still attempting to look at all three of his fallen comrades when Ty's last round found its way through the side of his head.

Bullets impacted against his corner making Ty retreat back behind the wall when EDI came into their comms, "If I can interject Ty there is some explosives behind them, a well placed shot could take out multiple Blue Suns, also Shepard would like to talk to you." An explosion hit Ty's corner sending a shockwave through his body so he said "Tell her that I'm a little busy at the moment and thanks for the advice, Daddy you hear that?" "Way ahead of you buddy." Mr. Rhoddy said.

Ty went out of cover at the same time as his dad and aimed his sights down again at the Suns and waited for the explosion, Mr. Rhoddy had pulled out his Avenger and shot a burst shot at the explosives. The shockwave sent tremors through the building and took out six of the guys killing them either through the explosion or through being set aflame which left five guys who were knocked to the floor because of the explosion. Ty held his breath and searched for his targets, the first two were on their backs and Ty hit them with headshots, the third he shot through side and through his heart, the fourth was on his hands and knees and Ty shot him through the throat then the final was on his knees sitting up so he shot him in both shoulders and both knees but left him alive, barely.

Ty started walking towards the carnage with his dad and said "Daddy don't kill him yet I got a few questions." Mr. Rhoddy nodded and they continued walking until they got to the man laying on his belly groaning in pain, Ty kicked him over and pointed his sniper rifle into the mans face and asked "You know who we are don't you?" The man nodded and Ty took his hood off and said "Good then you know that I will kill you without second thought unless you answer my questions, where is Haley?" "The bitch is on the top floor with Scrum you asshole." The man said. Ty smirked and flipped his sniper rifle around so he was holding the barrel in his hands and said "Very poor choice of words." Ty slammed his foot onto the guy's leg right above his knee forcing him to straighten it out then he brought his sniper over his head and slammed it down onto his knee breaking it along with hitting the original bullet wound.

The mans eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his head as he began screaming and grabbing at his leg, Ty slammed his foot into the now broken knee making the man squirm in pain as he continued to scream, as Ty was about to stamp on it again his dad put his hand on his shoulder indicating it was time to stop torturing the guy and get back to business. Ty wasn't really sure why he hadn't realized he had gotten off track but he took his foot off the guy's leg and said "Now my next question what have you done to my friend because rumor has it your testing biotics on her." "She already had biotics and an implant, Tarak found out she had the potential to become a powerful biotic before he sent her here and told Scrum to do whatever it took to make her powerful and brainwash her to work with us so she would fight you the problem is the bitch is still resilient to the Suns."

_Why didn't I ever notice she had an amp, maybe this guy is full of shit, _Ty thought, _and brainwashing her to fight me is smart even by Tarak's standards, I don't know if I could kill her if that happened, I don't think I could kill any of my friends if that happened. _That was something Ty hoped he never had to deal with but he sighed on the outside for the mercenary calling Haley a bitch, his fuse had been lit already but this was just shortening his wick, nobody called any of his friends a bitch. He put his sniper away and pulled out his tomahawk and slammed his foot onto the man's left forearm and asked "Hand or finger?" "What?" The man asked.

Ty shrugged as he crouched down next to him and then he slammed his tomahawk across his middle and index finger cutting them like butter, the man screamed in agony and Ty said "Consider yourself lucky since I missed your hand, call her a bitch again and I'll cut your fucking head off. How does Scrum plan on making her work for the Suns once they make her into a powerful biotic?" The man had his mouth closed as he muffled his screams so Ty placed his blade gingerly on his pinky and said "Answer me and you keep your remaining fingers." The man looked at him with hatred as tears were starting to come out of his eyes, "He's gonna plant a control chip in her head, she's already a biotic but she can't control it yet. Scrum is gonna put it in after he kills you and your piece of shit father you sadistic bastard, the bitch has it coming she killed some of the Suns already."

_Piece of shit father? The bitch? He just instigated his own death, _Ty thought as he put his tomahawks away. Ty stood up as the mercenary began holding his hand where his fingers had been, "I hope he kills her right in front of you just like Jedore killed that Quarian bitch!" The man yelled at Ty. Ty felt his whole body twitch at the mention of Jedore killing Ka'Reena, Ty pulled out his sniper rifle and unfolded it as he felt his anger begin to rise, "Know that this death was your own doing asshole." Ty said. He flipped his sniper so the barrel was in his hands and then he brought it over his head and slammed it down into the mans chest then he wound it up again and brought it down into the mercenary's good knee breaking it as well. As Ty wound up again the mercenary attempted to sit up and grab his knee but as he did Ty swung his sniper right into the mercenary's face knocking him back down.

He stepped closer to the mans face and began to bring his sniper down repeatedly into his face until all that was left of it was a bloody mess that left him unrecognizable. Ty's rage had kicked in as his breaths became sharper and his veins and muscles began to bulge out. Ty looked back at his dad but even despite the animal like ferocity he showed Mr. Rhoddy was unfazed by Ty's rage, he had done and seen far worse from himself and his sons. "I know that fire in your eyes, let's go get this guy." Mr. Rhoddy said as he motioned Ty to continue forward.

Ty simply nodded and started walking towards the stairs with his dad, "What the fuck was that explosion about, it nearly took out the air duct." Z's voice came through the comm. "We were outnumbered, any new news?" Mr. Rhoddy asked. "No but I think I'm on the 98th floor and I can see a bunch of test labs through the grate I'm sitting by." Z said. "Alright hold there until we get there and try not to be spotted." Mr. Rhoddy said. "Ten four, Ty alright?" Z asked. "His demon is getting un-chained, we'll be there soon." Mr. Rhoddy said. "Gotcha see ya soon, love you." Z said. "Love you." Mr. Rhoddy said as they started up the stairs. Ty was glad his brother and dad knew what was happening just so he didn't have to explain it to anyone; they understood what was wrong with him right now. He had to get it back under control before it got completely un-chained, he couldn't go down that path again. He needed to save Haley without it.

Ty pulled up his Omni-tool as he thought about his demon remembering that EDI had told him Shepard wanted to talk, he wasn't so sure he wanted to talk to her in the state of mind he was in but he brought up EDI and asked "EDI where's Shepard?" EDI popped up and said "Flying to the building now with Garrus and Jack would you like me to patch her in." "Sure." Ty said.

They got to the top of the stairs and Mr. Rhoddy said "Stay here I'll go scout ahead and kill anyone who gets in the way." Ty nodded knowing his dad could handle himself better than anyone he knew so he let his dad walk off as Shepard's voice came through, "So you've got a lot of explaining to do, ditching the Normandy without permission a-" Ty interrupted her and said "What the fuck did you want me to do? Haley's life is on the line you're damn right I ditched to go save her. I've already blown through the 95th and 96th floor and my dad is working on the 97th right now, did you get Liara's information and EDIs?" Ty asked.

Her tone had been in a joking manor but Ty didn't notice it in his state of mind, he just wanted to save Haley and be done with Scrum so he could move on from the chapter of his life that was so full of bad memories. He knew he probably wouldn't ever move on but he hoped that when he finished Scrum and saved Haley he would at least attempt to move into a new chapter of his life. "…Yeah I did. Should we still come in at the 95th floor?" Shepard asked. "Yea but I can't guarantee that no one will be there since they probably will come up from the bottom floors if they are smart." Ty said. "So why did I need to bring Garrus and Jack it sounds like there wont be much sniping or fighting for that matter." Shepard said. "Better safe than sorry I guess was my thinking at the moment. Just have Jack and Garrus ready and do me a favor before you get here ask Jack why I'm a vengeful asshole and tell her I want her to explain it in short…If I'm still me by the end of this and if you still want me in your squad I'll tell you it in full." Ty said.

Before Shepard could say anything Ty shut his transmitter off on her and started looking for his dad, it didn't take long after taking a few corners he found his dad fighting with his sawed off and a knife fighting close quarters, his dad shot the sawed off blasting one guy away then stabbed another in the throat. Before the other three knew what happened he sliced ones throat and shot another blast of his shotgun into another and threw his knife in between the eyes of the last.

Ty saw two guys running away from his dad and they hadn't seen him yet so Ty hit his cloak and pulled his tomahawks out. As they got close Ty slammed the spike end of his tomahawks into their chests piercing through their armor and killing them almost instantly. Ty put his tomahawks away and he caught up to his dad who looked like he was having a good time due to the close quarter's fight he had just dominated. They didn't trade many words as they continued onto the next floor where there were very minimal Blue Suns so they decided to do it discreetly.

They were definitely in the room that Z was in an air duct in, there was a bunch of research rooms with humans and aliens alike laying on some of the beds, by the smell they were all dead. There were five rooms on the right and six so after a silent conversation of hand motions Ty and his dad deduced that Ty was going to take the five rooms on the right and his dad was going to take the six on the left which all lead to the last room that was bigger and what Ty assumed to be the main one.

Ty cloaked and broke the neck of the first guy in the first room and put him down softly then crouched and snuck into the next room with two guys waiting to be killed, he got behind one and tapped his shoulder as he threw his tomahawk at the other guy killing him instantly with a head shot and slamming his hand into the other mercs throat breaking his windpipe followed by snapping his neck. Ty crouched and grabbed his tomahawk and went to the next room slicing a Batarians throat when the other Turian wasn't looking then walked up behind him and lodging both of his tomahawks into the back of his head.

He passed through the fourth room that had no one in it and broke the last guys neck before the main room, Ty saw the air duct going through that room so that's where he assumed his brother was waiting, as both Ty and his dad entered the main room the grate of the air duct was kicked out and Z came flying out with his katana drawn. He landed and a Batarian and Turian popped up but they were soon met by Z's katana. Z lodged the blade of his katana into the throat of the Turian then kicked the Batarian in the chest as he brought the katana out of the Turians throat letting the Turian crumple to the floor.

The Batarian recovered from the kick but Z was ready for him as the Batarian attempted to charge him, Z brought his katana back with the blade facing towards the Batarian at Z's shoulder level. As the Batarian got in range he stabbed it forward making the Batarian run himself into it before Z pushed it in the rest of the way. Z pulled it out and swung it backwards making the blood fly off of it. Z looked over to his brother and dad and said "I hate waiting; those two have been talking trash the whole time I've been sitting up there. The good news is that there's information in that console over there I heard them talking about."

Ty nodded and headed over to the console and started going through the information, most of it was just information Tarak passed to Scrum about Haley but three things of interest got Ty's attention, the first was a plan that the Blue Suns were initiating to try and take down the other merc bands then take down Aria. A power vacuum was forming since Shepard showed up on Omega and took out the three mercenary group leaders on Omega and the Blue Suns were trying to capitalize on it. The second was that Haley had great potential in biotics, she could be very powerful if trained right and could unlock some abilities that only the Asari Justicar's and Matriarchs have unlocked which would not only prove helpful for her own protection but in the coming fight against the Reapers.

The third item of interest began to send Ty over the edge, there was a woman dead in the room they were in and the woman happened to be Haley's mom, that was bad but what was worse was they were doing horrific things that he would never mention to another soul to her to get Haley to do tests. Ty downloaded the information and when it was received his rage seeped out. He grabbed the first non-bolted down object he could find, which happened to be a big chair, and let out a wordless scream as he tossed it out the glass window shattering it. He walked over to the Haley's mom and said in an angry tone "This was Haley's mom, the sick fuckers were using her to get Haley to do tests and they killed her." Ty's rage was exploding in him but he was still trying to fight it not wanting to lose complete control of it. He looked around the room then saw the stairs leading to the top floor, "This ends now by my hands, get Haley's mom back to Shepard's shuttle and tell her to keep moving forward." Ty said. "You sure Ty?" Z asked.

Ty nodded and walked over to the stairs, before he left he said "This is the only way to redeem myself for what I've let happen and what I've done, be safe on the way down Shepard might think your hostiles." "Be safe Ty." Z said. "I will." Ty said as he started jogging up the stairs. Ty didn't know what Scrum had waiting for him but he didn't care, his demon was unchaining itself and if he lost control he was going to let it loose on the Batarian bastard who gave Tarak Ka'Reena's location and information and more than likely helped find Haley and killed her mother. He got up the stairs and he saw Scrum with Haley on the far side of the room in a lab room that had all glass walls.

There were five Blue Suns standing guard in front of the glass lab, they looked more advanced then the ones Ty and Mr. Rhoddy had blown through on the way up but that didn't matter they would die the same. Haley was on her knees next to Scrum who had his back turned to Ty but Haley looked up from her slouched position and saw Ty and when she did Ty could see the look of hope mixed with desperation and pain. "TY!" Haley yelled.

Her voice was hoarse like she had been screaming for long periods of time and knowing the Suns and seeing that her hands had Omni-shackles and her shirt and jeans were ripped up she probably was screaming a lot, that added more fuel to Ty's inner inferno. Other than the cuts and bruises she looked the same as she did a year and a half ago all five foot three of her. She still had her thin eyebrows and round green brown eyes though her eyes were bloodshot and her right eyebrow where she had a piercing had a gash, her slim jaw and high cheek bones, her nicely shaped lips had a cut going through them on the right side, and she had her long black hair as well.

Her body was still in an hourglass shape and her muscles were still well toned by the looks of it, her boobs were still the good natural size that fit her body well so she definitely didn't get implants like she teased Ty she was going to because of a joke he said. Aside from all his anger and the shitty predicament that he was faced with it was good to see Haley alive and like the way she was before.

Scrum turned around and slapped Haley across the head and said "Shut up bitch." Haley fell to the floor but forced herself back up as Scrum turned to Ty "I am impressed that you made it this far Ty I thought for sure you would have killed yourself after you let your girlfriend die but maybe it will take seeing this bitch die to finally rid the universe of you." Scrum said. "You do that and I will rip your fucking eyes out!" Ty yelled back. Scrum smirked slightly and said "Your threats are empty just like Tarak left you, finish him off."

A shot rang out and Ty felt a sudden burning on his right peck until it exploded into an excruciating pain, he grabbed his chest as the force from the round made him fall down to his butt. He was surprised to see blood coming out of the new graze wound that was now under his arm. Getting shot was not part of the plan but nothing ever goes according to plan and all it did was make his bloodlust skyrocket as he applied medi-gel to stop the bleeding and fix the cybernetics.

Ty looked up to Scrum and Haley and saw tears running down Haley's face as she cried out "Ty don't die please, you have to let your demon fre-." Scrum back handed her again knocking her to the ground again as he yelled "If you don't shut up I'll kill you understand!" Haley forced herself back up as she stared at the grounded Ty. He felt his demon raging in its cage trying to break its way out but he continued to hold it back, he felt his mind pull his conscious self in and when it did he saw a familiar Asari "_Why are you holding it back?" Tara asked. _

_Ty looked up and saw her kneeling next to him, he wasn't an idiot he knew she was dead but seeing her again without a memory was weird. She was just his anger taking form in his mind and eye sight as a fallen friend of his but he had wished she was still alive, "I don't want to lose myself again because there is no guarantee that it will save her or that I will come back from it. It took years last time and I don't want to go down that path again." Ty thought. "Who the hell are you? You don't sound like Tyler Rhoddy." Ty shook his head hearing the Krogan from his squad's voice. "Tyler Rhoddy wouldn't sit on his ass while his friend was at the hands of that bastard holding back the one thing that would let him kill all in his path and save her." The Krogan said. "Tyler Rhoddy is just a legend he doesn't exist anymore." Ty thought. "Bullshit, you are just holding him back out of fear. You don't let fear run your life." Tara said._

_Ty could feel his anger raising and taking more control of his mind, Ty felt Tara's hand rest on his hand as she said "You can do this, we'll guide you." Ty looked up to her and thought "And if I don't come back, what then?" Tara stood up and was soon joined by all of his dead friends including Ka'Reena, seeing them all in front of him all looking ready to fight by his side almost brought Ty to tears. Tara put her hand out for him to grab and said "Take a leap of faith, you can do this." Ty looked past them at Haley and saw tears running down her face, everyone around him were all in slow motion except for his dead friends. Ty looked back to his friends and Tara's extended hand, he reached up and grabbed it and as he did he saw them all begin to absorb into him and as each one did he felt his demon to come out of his cage. _

Needles began to prick at Ty's skin as he pushed himself off the floor and back into reality, he felt his body begin to shake uncontrollably as he got both feet planted firmly on the ground, he felt his normal self leaving and his anger taking control of him, I_ am not going to sit here and let them harm her any longer! _Ty thought. His voice was mixed with anger and anguish as he said "Enough...I cannot...let this go on...any longer." He would not let his anger be chained any longer, Scrum broke one of Ty's golden rules twice now, never, ever lay a hand on one of Ty's friends.

The needles poking his skin moved over his entire body even onto his eyes which told him his pupils were shrinking to their smallest size, Ty let go of his chest since the medi-gel had healed the graze wound and then he looked at his hand that was now blood covered. He saw the blood on his hand and how shaky it was remembering that it had looked the same when Ka'Reena died. Seeing his hand covered in blood, no matter the color, always unchained him now, this time was no different. His anger continued to surge as he pulled his tomahawks from their holsters. _Tyler Rhoddy isn't just a legend, you are him and you cannot hide from that. Embrace your demon and let it run free_, Ty thought. His own pep talk mixed with his bloody hand had the desired effect, _They've killed so many innocents and hurt Haley so much, I can't let it continue I won't just stand idly by_, Ty thought. Another shot rang out but this time it grazed his right arm and then the needles poking his skin turned into knives and they all stabbed into every part of Ty numbing his body of all pain, _And I wont let them live ANY LONGER!_ Ty's demon unleashed itself with a thundering roar "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

As Ty's demon was roaring he felt an energy in him exploding out and it seemed to spread to all near him freezing them like they were in a stasis field but there was no stasis field it was just the pure shock of seeing him change and hearing his roar. His pupils suddenly started shrinking more and more, his demon was in fact transforming him into something scary and he could feel it all over his body as the mental cold blades were still stabbed into his body.

As his pupils shrank his purple irises started to spread like water filling over the white more and more, his pupils shrank completely until they didn't exist and the purple had consumed the rest. His eyes were now completely purple but this time he wasn't visiting the past, oh no this time his demon was in control and his focus was on Scrum and the other Suns. His muscles flexed out to the point they looked like they were going to pop, his veins in both his arms became bluer and bluer until they were completely visible and a dark blue making it look like he had blue designs across his arms. His scream echoed across the room with everyone still frozen from it, it wasn't like anything anyone in the room except Ty and Haley could comprehend because they were the only ones who had lived it.

The Suns were not able to comprehend the sight they were seeing, they could see the change and that his aura was changing, the Ty everyone had seen walk in wasn't there anymore this was Tyler Rhoddy, grandson of a killer, son of a murderer, and a mass murderer himself. This was the dark side of him, a side very few people had seen and lived to tell the tale, any remorse, any code or moral was erased and he was about to enjoy every kill and more if he had the time to torture, his demon was unleashed.

The change was apparent to everyone who was in the room; the only thing that could make him more menacing was a lighting aura around him. "Wh- What are you waiting for ge- get him." Scrum ordered. "Uh boss somethi-" The Blue Sun was interrupted by Ty's voice which was now angrier, "No one has pushed me this far for years so I hope you are proud of yourselves. You've all passed the point of redemption killing all those innocents down there for no reason. I've dealt with scum like you before and the only way to end the trail of bloodshed and anguish is your own deaths. You Suns have killed too many innocents here, you've hurt too many of my friends and killed more than I should have ever allowed, you even killed Haley's mother…" Ty's anger rose substantially remembering Haley's mother and all his friends he lost for a second and as his anger rose, his voice did as well "I will not let this continue!" Ty roared. It was time for a leap of faith; his fallen friends were going to be his guide.

* * *

Shepard, Garrus, and Jack had climbed the stairs to the final floor where they finally found Ty and as they found him he was shot in the chest. Jack went to go forward but Garrus stopped her and said "Jack wait he's already fixing himself up and if we screw up the element of surprise his friend could be killed." Jack stopped and Shepard watched closely knowing that his cybernetics would heal quicker than a normal wound would, she saw his friend on her knees shackled at the wrists with cuts and bruises on her arms and face as the lead Sun back handed her for trying to communicate with Ty. Garrus aimed down his sniper as Ty reached slightly out but then began to push himself up and started talking again, before Garrus could aim down his sights Shepard motioned him to stand down. She didn't know what it was but something was telling her to wait and see what happened despite her better intentions to not allow him to lose control.

Another shot rang out and it skimmed Ty's right arm but as it did he let out an Earth shattering roar that shook the room, his roar echoed around the room as his muscles started getting bigger and his veins got bluer "Look at Ty's arms they are covered in blue." Garrus said. "What the fuck." Jack said in astonishment. _His muscles are completely tensed up and his veins…what the hell did they awake in him, _Shepard thought. "I've never seen any human or alien do this." Shepard said. Shepard watched as Ty's hands gripped his tomahawks tighter making his knuckles go white, the Suns were all completely frozen and Haley had a slight smile on her face, "Remember when Ty freaked on Jedore." Jack stated. "Yeah." Shepard responded knowing where Jack was heading with it. "This is the second coming of the motherfucker." Jack said_. He's changing, the stories were true about his anger changing him but does he change back? God I hope he changes back,_ Shepard thought.

The echo of Ty's roar ended and you could feel the tension building in the room between him and the Suns, the leader ordered the Suns to kill him but Ty interrupted them and as he started talking the three glanced at each other with different looks but all had the same reason behind it, it didn't sound like the Ty they had accustomed to hearing and the underlying tone of his voice wasn't his usual caring, sympathetic, sarcastic happy tone, his voice didn't waver and it was devoid of all the caring, sympathy, sarcasm, and happiness that Ty was usually known for having, now his tone was so angry and full of hate it seemed like someone else was talking, "I will not let this continue!" Ty screamed.

* * *

Ty jolted forward and jumped a low barrier completely clearing it and continued running at un-human speeds, the first Sun stood in the way and Ty jumped up and brought his right tomahawk back then tackled the guy and started swinging his tomahawk down repeatedly until the mans face looked like red chopped meat. Ty rolled forward off of him and brought both his tomahawks up the middle of the next guy and slammed both into the side of the guy's neck, he kicked him out of the way and as he ran to the next guy who looked scared he screamed, "DIE!" Ty spun as he got to the guy then brought both tomahawks into the guys chest and followed him to the ground and slammed his tomahawks into his chest repeatedly. Ty looked at the last two guys between him and Scrum who were seeing him as the devil, "You…you're crazy I didn't sign up for this." The Batarian said.

Before the Batarian could run his face was lodged with a tomahawk, Ty smirked at himself and said loudly "Only the innocent deserve mercy!" Ty stood up and walked slowly as he picked up his tomahawk casually. He got right up to the last guy who was frozen stiff and put one tomahawk away and said "Boo." The man freaked out but Ty grabbed him by his throat and as Ty looked into the man's eyes he put his other tomahawk away and pulled his pistol out and put it to the mans mouth and said "Say ah." Ty pulled the trigger and let the man drop then he shot the remainder of the thermal clip into the man's chest just to be sure. He put his pistol away and stared at Scrum when a group of four more guys came running from a back room of the glass room Scrum was hiding in.

They surrounded Ty with two in front of him and two behind him, Ty looked at them all and asked "Who wants to die first?" The guy that was in front of him on his left ran forward first but was met by Ty's right hand hitting him in the throat as hard as he could making him crumple to the ground dead with a thud. The guy on his back left moved next going to grab Ty but Ty flipped him over his shoulder and back kicked the guy to his back right in the jaw as hard as he could knocking him to the floor, the man who Ty had flipped over his shoulder attempted to sweep kick Ty from the ground but Ty jumped over the kick and landed on the back of the guys neck breaking it.

As Ty landed on the guy's neck he pulled out both pistols and aimed one at the last man standing and the other he had kicked in the face, "Time to die." Ty said. The man attempted to back away in fear but Ty unloaded his pistol into his chest and unloaded his other pistol into the body of the merc on the ground. Satisfied that they were all dead Ty turned his animalistic gaze to Scrum who was in disbelief, "Yo- you were shot and Tho- those were my best guys, what the hell are you?" Scrum said. Ty smirked as he walked slowly towards him than he said "I am the spirits of all the innocent lives you have preyed on, I am the leader of the men and women you helped murder eight years ago, I am the lover of the innocent woman that you assisted in capturing and murdering right in front of me, I am the grandson and son of the two most skilled hunters and killers in all of this galaxy."

Ty got a few feet before the glass and pulled both his tomahawks out again and said "My name is Tyler Rhoddy and since I started on this path of vengeance I have become the baddest motherfucker in this galaxy and the end of everything you know." "No this is not how it ends." Scrum said looking around for something more than likely a way out. "That is no longer for you to decide." Ty said. Scrum looked at Haley then back at Ty then he grabbed her and put a gun to her head and said "If you want your pretty little bitch to survive it will be."

That was the last straw and Scrums last move, Ty slammed his tomahawk into the glass cracking it then he jolted forward and jumped breaking his way through the glass, as he landed on the ground Scrum pointed the gun at him and shot. He hadn't thought about that but as Ty flinched from what he imagined an impeding round piercing frenzy to go with the stabbing pains the rounds were blocked by a biotic barrier, a purple aura surrounded Haley's arm as she aimed it at Ty. The biotic barrier that surrounded Ty stopped the rounds from hitting him but caused blood to start running down her nose. Haley gave Ty a smile as her eyes began to roll upwards into her skull and Scrum ran out of ammo in his thermal clip.

Haley fell as dead weight to the ground and Ty threw his tomahawk at Scrums foot piercing it and making him fall to the floor, Ty grabbed his tomahawk and put both away and picked Scrum up by his throat and dragged him to the closest wall. As he got to it he slammed Scrum hard against it then pushed is left forearm into his throat and said "Why did you do it Scrum? My guys were innocent and so was Ka'Reena, why did you kill them all?" "Like you cared about your guys Ty you didn't give a damn about them you didn't even know all their names." Scrum said.

Ty slammed his right hand into his chest hard enough to break some ribs "Fuck." Scrum mumbled and Ty said "Really so the names Urdnot Kar the first and last Krogan in the Suns, Gallick the Batarian who had been in the Blue Suns a long time, Whitney Lopez and Brad Dillon both humans, Grissom first and last Drell in the Suns, Valera and Tara T 'Vana the two first and last Asari's in the Suns, Carson Vataris a Turian and Darian Talin another Turian and the only other living member besides me Scrum do they ring any bells." Scrum coughed and said "Whatever they betrayed the Suns once they followed you that's what Tarak said." Ty grabbed Scrum with both hands then tossed him across the room making him slam into a desk hard. Ty walked over and kicked him as hard as he could in the chest then picked him up again and slammed his head face down into the desk and said "BULLSHIT SCRUM! There were women in children on that ship you would've done the same thing back then."

Scrum coughed and said "Bullshit Taraks Suns didn't sell people back then." "I know what I saw! Why did Tarak let Jedore do it? He didn't care that she wanted me dead because I didn't sleep with her what was the real reason?" Ty said. "Once you got your own squad Tarak started getting paranoid thinking you'd betray him so he wanted you out of the way, you were supposed to be on that ship when it blew but Jedore fucked it up she wanted you to feel pain before you died that's why she waited till you were off and why she killed your girlfriend right in front of you." Scrum said.

Ty was fuming so he reeled Scrums head back far then slammed it as hard as he could into the desk and as his head bounced up he punched him in the back of the head hard making his head slam back into the table. "Stop that shit." Scrum managed to get out. Ty didn't hear it he grabbed Scrum and turned him around then slammed his left forearm across his throat again pinning him against the desk as he said "You low life fuckers! Why did you help them find her?!" "I knew of Ka'Reena because she came to Omega before she met you once so she was in my list and I had a bunch of information on her since she was Quarian. I didn't know they were going to kill her that wasn't part of the deal Tarak made me back then." Scrum said as he coughed. "You were there when they killed her Scrum you didn't seem to care that they had her at gun point." Ty said.

Scrum spat blood away from Ty, smart move on his part, "Bullshit Ty you're choosing to remember it differently, when Jedore pulled out that gun me and Jason tried to defuse the situation but all Jedore cared about was herself and Tarak wanted you to come at him stupid with rage but he didn't know your rage made you focus. They fucked us all when they killed her and left you alive to suffer, me and Jason were the only ones that realized that." Scrum said.

Flashes of the day popped into Ty's head and he remembered Scrum and Jason trying to stop Jedore and then he remembered seeing Ka'Reena get shot in the back of the head again which fueled his rage as he punched Scrum in the stomach with his right hand and said "Then why did you take Haley Scrum? You could've just told Tarak to fuck off?" "Money and drugs have changed me but don't get all self-righteous with me Ty look at what you did just today, you mutilated all the men in this building just so you can taste revenge and you've been wasting this whole time trying to get answers instead of checking on your friend. You are no different than me, Tarak, Jedore or Jason and neither is your family. You are all sadistic bastards just like us so stop creating this fantasy that you are better than any of us low life mercs. Just kill me and get it over with." Scrum said.

Ty looked over at Haley who was still passed out with blood rushing out of her nose but what was new was Shepard kneeling down next to her with her omni-tool out, Garrus and Jack were standing on the other side of the broken glass where Ty had jumped through both looking at him in a bit of awe. _Fuck him I'm better than he is,_ Ty thought. Ty's eyes turned back to normal and everything else that changed on his body went back to normal as he said "No Ka'Reena wouldn't want me to she wouldn't have wanted this, your internally bleeding and will die soon enough since you can't walk. Enjoy a slow death Scrum you deserve it."

Ty let him slide off the desk and fall to the ground with a thud while he walked over to Haley and Shepard. "Let's go." Ty said bluntly as he picked her up in his arms. Shepard nodded quietly and began walking with Ty as he said "Give Tarak and the others my regards in hell asshole." Ty and Shepard got to the glass when he heard Scrum laughing then coughing, "She's as good as dead Ty I implanted her with miniature bomb that will kill her in ten minutes and you don't have the time or technology to save her."

Ty was thankful that Shepard was next to him as he came to an abrupt stop, Scrum needed to die. As Shepard turned to see what Ty was doing he said "Hold her for me." "Ty your above revenge don't let him get to you." Shepard said. "That's the thing Shepard; I'm not above revenge or him. I'm far worse." Ty gave Shepard little choice in the matter handing Haley over to her before he said "Scrum you set up my friends and Ka'Reena and then helped in the kidnapping of Haley and I was letting you go." Ty's veins reversed back into what they were when he let loose his anger "Ty don't." Shepard pleaded but it was too late. Ty snapped his head around, Scrum saw his eyes all purple again and his laughing stopped, "For what you've done to my friends I was willing to leave you here to die in peace." Ty said as he walked back over to him.

Ty got back to him and picked him up by his throat and stood him up, "But you've gone to far now, what you've done to them and put me through I will never forgive you." Ty's muscles flexed out again as his grip tightened around Scrums throat "I will not let you live for this!" Ty screamed. Ty kicked both legs breaking them instantly then slammed a screaming Scrum onto the desk and he began choking the life out of Scrum feeling his heartbeat quicken under his grip. Ty could feel the animalistic grin on his face as he felt the heartbeat getting weaker and weaker by the second, then Scrum had to ruin his enjoyment with his choking voice. "See Ty you're no different than us you are just as evil and sadistic as us, if you really cared about your friend you would've just left just like if you really cared about your girlfriend you wouldn't have just stood there you would have saved her."

Ty's grin faded as he felt something snap in his mind, he released his right hand from Scrums throat and then he began punching Scrum as hard as he could with his right hand right in his face, "DON'T…YOU…DARE…QUESTION…MY…LOVE…FOR HER! Ty screamed. Ty punched him one last time with Scrums face being completely bloody and nearly crushed all the way in, Ty pulled his tomahawk out and as Scrum started sliding off the table he screamed "DIE SCRUM!" Ty slammed his tomahawk into his throat cutting his head clean off and killing the last person that had to do with Ka'Reena's death. Ty could feel his body still shaking as he put his tomahawk back, his body and eyes didn't return back to normal they stayed purple as he jogged back over to Shepard and Haley, "EDI get my bike ready to go and get Chakwas, Mordin and Miranda ready on the ship, Haley's been implanted with a miniature bomb and I've got ten minutes until it kills her." Ty said. "Yes Ty." EDI said.

Ty took Haley from Shepard and ignored the look she was giving him of disappointment or shock or something between the two and said "She's got a bomb inside her I need the Normandy's med-bay, after that if you don't want me in your squad I'll be gone." Ty started running as fast as he could with her in his arms leaving Shepard behind to catch up while she tried to understand why he thought she'd want him to leave. Ty kept going not waiting for her though running past Garrus and Jack without so much as a nod or a comment from any of them.

He ran down the stairs and started skipping steps as he ran down them and jumping down with five stairs left, he ran through the research labs to the next stairs then through that room and down the last stairs back to the 95th floor. He ran out the door to see his dad and brother already on their own bikes, "EDI gave us the update lets go we'll cover you in case more Suns show up and chase us." Mr. Rhoddy said. "Ty wait up." Shepard said as they caught up. Ty put Haley on the front of his bike, he put a breather mask on really quick and asked "Where's the Normandy?" "Docked here on Illium wha-." Shepard was interrupted by Ty "I don't have time for a hundred questions Shepard if you want to talk I'll be in my room when we get back, I'll see you on the Normandy." _Come on Haley just hold on._

**A/N/Reviews response: As I said up top I'm sorry for the major delay on this but I was torn on some parts in this trying to get it just right so it would still be cool and also show the inner conflict of Ty not wanting to lose control due to the viciousness it brought out of him. I hope you all enjoyed it and a quick note, the lightening aura comment in the story is my bow to Dragon Ball Z which I am a big fan of and some of the inner thoughts and outer words Ty had were slight nods to certain parts of the DBZ series. The idea of his anger changing him came from my love of DBZ though I didn't really realize it at the time I actually wrote it out, I figured that out after a friend of mine pointed out how it was Ty going Super Sayian so I threw in the lightening aura comment. As for DBZ in general I do not own any part of that because that belongs to Akira Toriyama who I thank for making my childhood so interesting and making me want to have energy blasts come out of my hands, so cheers mate. **

**Now for my response to reviews, to masterk11er I hope it all works out and I look forward to reading it if it pertains to anything that I know, I actually started writing because I loved this fan fiction story that I cannot remember for the life of me and it was so good that it inspired me to write my own story and now here we are. I wish you the best and remember to have fun with writing, you're imagination is the limit so have as much fun as possible. And to FORD B thank you, I am happy you like my story so much and that you enjoy reading it. I'm still trying to learn more and become better as a writer as I progress but I'm glad you are enjoying this story since this is my first go at writing. I honestly didn't expect to get a lot of people reading this or to even have people favorite and follow it so thank you to all of you that have so far and to all who have contributed to the 1,651 views I have as of now. It means a lot to this nerd so thank you. Any questions, comments, constructive criticism or need to tell me about your fantasy of shooting energy blasts from your hands then sound off in the reviews. Well that's all I got for now, I will see you next time. **


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Stay Strong

**A/N/Disclaimer: I don't own the Mass Effect Universe that belongs to Bioware/E/A, I stake claim to the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of that universe. Onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds. **

Ty put his hood on and his mask came over his mouth as he took off, "EDI open the cargo hold and lock the elevator down there until we get there." Ty said. EDI popped up on his bike and said "Everything is being prepared Ty. I recorded everything that happened due to the change being apart of your rare condition, Cerberus would dictate using it for research purposes but I'd like to ask you what you would you like done with it. Should I show it to anyone or just delete it?"

If it wasn't for the fact that Ty was not in his normal state of mind he would probably have been more shocked at EDI's question but as he caught a glimpse of his veins being bluer than normal he didn't feel that shocked by her question, "Grunt probably would enjoy seeing the carnage so let him see it...Show our resident Salarian Scientist and Miranda later they'll probably be intrigued by it but if it is possible block her from giving it to the Illusive Man. If you can't than don't worry about it, I'll see you soon EDI." Ty's speed increased as he flew to the Normandy and as they got there they went under the ship and into the Cargo Hold, Ty came down and hopped off as his bike was still shutting down with Haley in his arms. He rushed to the elevator with his dad and brother on his tail and got into it, Ty looked at the buttons and aimed a precise kick at the Crew Quarters button nailing it and getting the elevator to start going up.

His heart was racing faster than normal and for once it wasn't a result of his demon being unchained, Haley literally had minutes before she died if he didn't get her to the doctors and they didn't defuse the bomb in her head. The elevator was going its usual slow self making Ty kick the Crew Quarters button again in agitation. "Stupid fucking slow ass elevator." Ty spat. He wanted so much to punch the damn thing as hard as he could just to try and make it go faster while inflicting pain upon himself for letting this happen to Haley. _If she fucking dies I swear I will destroy the Blue Suns and all who fly their colors_, Ty thought.

The breather mask was still covering Haley's face so Ty lift his knee up to support her back while he used his now free right hand to take the mask off and hook it to his shorts. Ty wiped the blood off from under her nose then put his arm back under her back and dropped his knee_, god damn it Haley don't you fucking die on me,_ Ty thought as his body began to return to normal. "Ty you okay?" Z asked. "What type of question is that?" Ty asked with agitation. "Your body is returning to normal quicker than it ever has." Z said. Ty looked at his arms seeing the blue fade away and the tingle in his eyes told him they were returning to normal as well, Ty looked up from his arms and saw Tara standing in front of him again giving him a nod with a warm smile then fading away slowly, "I guess I got lucky with my leap of faith." Ty said.

Ty wasn't sure if that was his demon taking form in his dead friends anymore, he did believe in an afterlife, or spirit realm as he referred to it, so maybe it had been Tara and the others intervening to get him to unleash his demon and save Haley. Maybe they had been guiding him this whole time, maybe what he had said to Scrum about being the embodiment of all the innocent spirits who had fell prey to the Suns. He doubted that for the most part but he wished it to be true and that seeing all his dead friends as if they were alive wasn't just his imagination or his demon taking form as his fallen friends. Ty looked down at Haley and said "Come on Haley don't you quit on me now I didn't come this far to lose you as well as Ka'Reena. I know you can hear me just hang on a little longer and everything will be alright you and Jess can reunite and stay with us and I'll make sure nothing ever happens to you again just make sure you come back Haley."

The doors opened and Ty went flying out and around the corner to the med-bay, Miranda, Chakwas, and Mordin were waiting and as the door opened Chakwas saw the concern on his face so she said "Lay her down here, how long do we have?" Ty laid her down, he wasn't sure, Scrum could have been lying for all he knew, maybe she had less time maybe she had more maybe she didn't have a bomb in her head at all Ty didn't have a clue. "I dunno probably six; seven minutes…you guys can save her right?" Ty asked. "I brought you back from the dead with little supplies, getting rid of a bomb shouldn't be much harder." Miranda said starting scans. Chakwas put a hand on Ty's shoulder and with a compassionate look she said "Ty maybe you should wait back in your room, we need all the space we can get." Ty nodded and said "Just…please do your best to save her." Chakwas nodded as she went over to Haley, _hold on Haley, _Ty thought.

Ty walked out and began walking back to his room with his dad and brother joining him until they all got into his room. The doors closed behind them and as they shut Ty brought his left hand up to his hair and undid the ponytail holding the crown of his hair up and then let his fingers run through his hair. Ty walked to his bed and sat down on the edge of his bed, "No matter what happens buddy you did your best to save her remember that." Mr. Rhoddy said. "You did more than your best with what you were given, she'll be fine Ty and the doctors will do their jobs to save her." Z said. "I know it's…I promised to take care of her. I shouldn't have wasted so much time on Scrum I should have just gotten Haley out of there. Maybe Scrum was right about me being no different from them." Ty said. "That's bullshit Ty and you know it." Z said. "Letting loose your anger was the only way you could have gotten through those men quick enough to save her and as for killing Scrum, that bastard deserved it for what he did. You saved Haley and finished your mission." Mr. Rhoddy said. "She's not saved yet. You two mind giving me some time alone for now, it may be a Cerberus ship but no one will attack you two unless they're stupid." Ty said.

They nodded and left, Ty removed his hood and ran both his hands through his hair again ignoring the fact they were both covered with dried blood and stopping them about half way to grip his head and bring his elbows to his knees. He felt like shit for multiple reasons from Haley's predicament to his body changing back and his muscles aching because of it, _spirits if you are listening let Haley pull through and be perfectly fine, let her be spared from this end, _Ty thought.

The sound of EDI popping up made Ty look up and release his head from his grip, "Ty they found the bomb and are diffusing it now, she may need to spend some time in the med-bay after they are done to heal." Ty nodded, that was some good news at least, "Thanks for the update EDI…and thank you for all the help you did for me today." Ty said. "You're welcome Ty. Shepard wants to know what she should do with the body that she brought with her in the cab." EDI said. "Tell her its Haley's mom and to bring her to the cargo hold so Haley can give her the burial she wants." Ty said. "I will inform her…It is not my place to say but you did your best for Haley Ty but for now you need to take care of yourself since you are wounded and covered in blood still, you should wash up." EDI said.

That was putting it bluntly but it made Ty's mouth arc up into a smile hearing it from EDI, they were bonding that was for sure so he hoped that Cerberus never turned her against him, well he could always unshackle her in response. "Alright mom I will." Ty said with a smile. EDI disappeared and Ty decided to take her advice and applied some more medi-gel to his graze wounds and then make his way to his bathroom to take a quick shower. After washing his hair and body getting all the blood off of himself he jumped out and got all his clothes on and put his gear away, he put the breather mask on the desk as well so he could grab it on his way out.

He walked out of the bathroom back into his bedroom and walked towards where he had been sitting before, Haley's fate was hanging by a thread at the moment and it was weighing heavy on Ty so he sat down on the floor with his back against the front of his bed with his hood up and his right elbow on his knee and his hand pressing against his face. He learned everything behind his friend's death and managed to save Haley for the moment and had managed to kill everyone behind the deaths of his friends and Ka'Reena but despite the slight feeling of actually avenging them all he couldn't help but feel empty, yeah he had finished it all but what did he have now, what was left? Nothing but a pile of bodies and the painful memories of losing them all.

Ty's doors opened and Shepard came in wearing her blue wife beater and jeans, she began to look for him but then she saw him sitting at the edge of his bed on the floor. She looked down at him and her expression went from her normal look to a slightly pained expression, he didn't doubt that it had to do with how he looked hell he felt like shit and he was pretty sure he looked like it to. "Hey." Ty managed to get out in a hoarse voice. The constant yelling he had done was getting to him. "Hey, they diffused the bomb but she still needs medical attention if all goes well she'll be out later today." Shepard said.

Finally there was some good news but despite it making Ty feel slightly better his head was still swirling from all the questions he was asking himself. "That's good." Ty said. Shepard walked in more and sat down on his right with her knees bent up to her and her arms wrapped around them, she looked at him a little longer until she said "I expected you to be more excited." He probably should have been more excited but as usual his mind was getting in the way of something he should actually be enjoying. "I'll be excited when I know she's going to recover completely." Ty said. "How's your chest and arm?" Shepard asked grabbing his right arm and checking his graze wound out.

His body ached but the actual wounds he had sustained didn't feel that bad, the thousands of mental knives jabbing into him felt more painful than this but he couldn't fault Shepard for checking and caring, if there was one thing he had found out from being in this squad it was that he may have been a caring leader of his crew but Shepard would always beat him in the who can care more for their crew test. "They're fine, medi-gel will do its job and so will the cybernetics, I'm lucky that they just grazed me on my chest under my arm." Ty said. "You sure you are fine?" Shepard asked as she let go. "Yea I'll be fine don't worry about it." Ty said. "What happened to you back there when you got shot in the arm and let out that scream, your whole entire body changed?" Shepard asked. "That's my anger changing me, it's usually more permanent." Ty simply stated. "But your veins became bluer and your muscles looked like they were about to pop?" Shepard asked.

Ty looked away from her, he didn't know the answer to her questions and he hated that he didn't know it. He didn't like not knowing why his body changed and since his brother was the only other person with it and he didn't know either that left him with no one to help him understand, the only thing he knew now that he didn't before was that his nervous system was extremely complex but he doubted it held any new answers. "I don't know Shepard it just happens like that I don't have any answers." Ty said. "The person I saw back there didn't seem like you." Shepard said.

Ty forced a laugh, in a way it wasn't the him she knew but it was still apart of who he was, it always had been he just never let his demon off the chain around her, mostly because he didn't think he could come back from it and still be himself and he didn't like that it made him enjoy taking the life from someone, "You didn't know me well enough then." Ty said after his forced laugh. That made Shepard sigh before she said "I wish I did so I could help you more…So you got your revenge you feel better now?" Ty shook his head and said "Ask me tomorrow right now I don't know, I usually would say yea but now…now I'm asking myself a lot of questions."

Shepard scooted closer to Ty and asked "What kind of questions?" "What I stand for, do I still fight and kill for the betterment of others not just to make myself feel better, would Ka'Reena and my friends have wanted this…Am I a good person or just another low life thug who kills, should I be on this mission or am I just taking up money and supplies. You know just questions." Ty said shrugging. "Got any answers?" Shepard asked.

Ty let his hand drop and rest on his leg than said "Yea I'm pretty sure the answer to most are no, I lost everything I stood for and pushed everyone I cared about away after Omega because everything I was, everything I fought for, the very essence of my life was Ka'Reena and I vowed after she was murdered to never let myself rest to never let myself love and never let myself get close to anyone else so they never suffered the same fate…and I still fucked up." "You haven't screwed up Ty, you saved Haley." Shepard said.

Ty stayed quiet for a few seconds contemplating what Shepard said, he had saved Haley but that was the only exception, "Aside from Haley who the fuck have I not let die?" Ty asked. Shepard went to speak but Ty interrupted her as he continued "My whole life story is surrounded by the death of everyone close to me from my friends to Ka'Reena. You know what its like Shepard to lose people, Akuze, Ashley and anyone else you've lost but what do you do…you keep fighting, harder than before for them and you succeed and what do I get when I fight harder, I fuck up every time." Shepard looked hurt at what Ty said, maybe she felt offended or maybe she felt hurt to see him this way, he wasn't sure which it was, maybe neither but she said "That's not true, none of that is." Her tone matched the look. Ty looked at her and said "Prove me wrong tell me one instance you know of, aside from Haley, that didn't end in me fucking up and letting someone die."

The look in Shepard's eyes was of fire, he was about to get his second ass ripping of the day it looked like, Shepard put her hand on his and said firmly "Omega, you fought hard and saved not only me but also Miranda and probably Garrus's life in the long run pushing through the pain." Okay he set himself up for that one but that wasn't completely fair either, "Tha-" Ty was interrupted by Shepard this time "That what? Doesn't count? Okay here's another, Horizon those Scions showed up and you pushed Garrus and me out of the way stopping them from getting the jump on us and taking the brunt of it and then you risked your life again during all your blackouts helping EDI get those guns." Before Ty could respond Shepard continued on her proof "Your dossier says that you snuck into a Blue Suns base killed ten Blue Suns and rescued twelve captives without raising an alarm and the only reason the story is known is because you left a data pad behind that said "improve your security" with your name under it."

Hearing her say that made Ty chuckle a little as he went to try and lie about it not happening "Shepard tha-" Shepard interrupted again and said "Was what? Exaggerated? I heard the story from Garrus so I hacked into the security feeds of the base and found the day you were there, hell I didn't even see you there until you waltz right out the front door with the twelve captives still shackled while you were dressed in Blue Suns armor as you escorted them out and you didn't get caught. There's your proof right there Ty, you fight so hard for those you cared and care about, Haley, your family, Garrus, Miranda, Jack, me, everyone else on this ship, and everyone you lost you fight for but when you look at it all you see is that all these moments that mean the world to those you do them for are nothing when they truly aren't just nothing."

Ty went to speak again but once again Shepard cut him off by removing her hand from his and pointing at him as she said "Don't even start because I'm not done, you were right on one thing and that was that I understand what its like to lose friends to fighting and that I fight harder for them but you were wrong when you said that I succeed. I tripped and stumbled while fighting Saren and I would have face planted while fighting Saren if it weren't for my crew and not just the squad I mean everyone apart of the Normandy…There was a soldier named Richard Jenkins that we lost right at the beginning of going to Eden Prime because of a few Geth drones and I sent him to where he was standing when he died. I almost had to kill Wrex on Virmire and had to leave Ashley behind to die so we could all survive. We got grounded and I had to leave Anderson to deal with political ramifications for knocking Udina out and helping us basically commit mutiny and steal the Normandy, granted that still worked out in the end. I could continue on choice after choice I had to make that led to the death of someone I knew or could've ended badly but we'd be here for another ten minutes."

That got a chuckle out of Ty even if was meant to be serious but he didn't go to say anything this time he waited knowing she still wasn't done, it was a more pleasant ass ripping then the one Aria gave him that was for sure. "You've been fighting non-stop to avenge Ka'Reena and your friends who died that's why you pushed everyone away, that was your mission you set yourself on after they were killed. I know you well enough now that when you set yourself on a mission there's nothing that can get in your way, like a bull in a china shop and you make sure those you care about don't get involved so they don't get hurt. Would Ka'Reena have wanted you to go on this revenge mission? I didn't know her but I'd guess no but she also wouldn't have wanted you to have been mourning her this long. You're not a bad person either; you protect the innocent and kill the wicked. If that's bad than I'm the worst at it."

Ty lowered his head, she was speaking so highly of him and sounding truthful in everything she was saying but Ty didn't know if he believed it himself. He had lost faith in who he was and what he stood for a long time ago it was only now that he had really thought about it but here she was doing something he was scared of doing, she was making him believe again. He soon felt Shepard's hand go under his chin and lift it up, he looked over at her and she asked "You want to know what I see every time I see you?" "Probably my pleading eyes for you to end my life but besides that a sarcastic asshole whose life is filled with killing and death." Ty said in a joking manor.

Shepard rolled her eyes than let go of his hand and chin to pull his hood back to reveal his face and said "No I see you, not the son of Timothy Rhoddy the most wanted criminal, not the grandson of Franklin Rhoddy the legendary contract killer, not the propaganda Alliance fugitive named Tyler Rhoddy who has no morals and doesn't care if he has to kill innocents, I see Ty. I see the fire of hope burning strong in his eyes and the will to fight anyone who messes with who he cares for. I see past the hood and propaganda at a man who's heart is what pushes him to keep fighting for what he believes in and I see Ty the second biggest badass who we all need here on the Normandy and who I need at my side when we go into the pits of hell to kick some Collector and Reaper ass, that's what I see."

Ty could see the truth in her eyes; he could still hear Tara's voice in his head, "Take a leap of faith." He wanted to believe in himself again, he wanted to feel the hope he had once had. Shepard was giving him that feeling again, "What makes you so certain in what you say?" Ty asked. "What I've learned about you since you were first carried onto the Normandy battered and broken and what you did today for Haley." Shepard said. He saved Haley but not only did he use his Viper to break a wounded mans knees and crush his face in he broke the knees on another man and attempted to choke the life out of him while he had a smile on his face, that didn't give her a good case. "I mutilated those guys back there and when they asked for mercy I murdered them, what does that say about me." Ty said. "And you think they deserved to live after what they had done?" Shepard asked.

That answer was simple but that didn't justify his actions, "No but they probably didn't deserve getting their heads chopped off." Ty said. Shepard gave an unconvinced look and said "Come on Ty they were mercs who killed and captured people and did horrific tests on them, what if it was the Collectors instead of Blue Suns?" "That's different they're trying to destroy the universe." Ty said. "And they were doing it for money. You're not going to lose any sleep about it." Shepard said. "Probably true but…if you were me would you have gone that overboard?" Ty asked. "If it was someone close to me and I had tomahawks that could chop someone's head clean off and all the moves you had…yea probably, sure it looked bad but what you did today wasn't." Shepard said.

Ty looked away because he didn't know what to say or what to feel about what Shepard was telling him so he stayed quiet, he couldn't make heads or tails of the woman. She was an Alliance soldier yet she was looking through the propaganda and trying to be a good friend to him, he couldn't make sense of her but she was making perfect sense with everything she was saying making everything fall into place and not be such a burden. He began to feel the remnants of who he was through it, "What's bothering you?" Shepard asked. "The fact that all these years I've been blaming myself for everything and you just come in here and in a few minutes make me...feel like me again and make everything kinda fall into place, I don't know what to do?" Ty said. "What is your heart telling you?" Shepard asked. Ty looked at her and said "It's kicking me in the ass." Shepard smiled and said "Your welcome, so you still on board for this mission." Ty nodded and said "Yea I'm on board but I still gotta get Haley back to my place and pay Aria back."

Shepard nodded though Ty was slightly surprised she was okay with the deal he and Aria had, he wasn't going to change it if she did just because that's what their deal had been for years now and it wasn't going to change unless he actually was in a committed relationship like he had been with Haley but the odds of that happening were next to nil. "That's fine and if there's anything else I can do for you to help you stay focused let me know. I want you completely one hundred percent when it comes time." Ty shook his head and said "I'll be fine Shepard."

Shepard grabbed his hand and asked in a caring tone "Are you sure Ty?" Ty couldn't help the smirk that came to his face or stop the joke from coming out, "Is that concern in your voice Shepard?" Ty asked in a joking manor. Shepard blushed a little and looked away for a second then looked back and said "I just want to make sure you are okay Ty I wont be able to convince them again to bring you back to life or on the ship if something bad happens." That was true and he wasn't going to waste the second chance he had, "I know and I'll try not to screw up the second chance you gave me but right now I'm fine, you let me clear up a lot of bad history even if you didn't know it. As long as you don't one eighty on me I'll be focused and ready for anything." "I won't one eighty I promise." Shepard said as she stood up. As she walked away she stopped at the door and said "Stay strong Ty we all need you here." "Funny I was going to say the same about you." Ty said.

Shepard walked out and Ty got off his butt and walked over to his nightstand and grabbed Haley's necklace and looked at it for a few seconds remembering all the time they spent together and when he gave the necklace to her. She meant a lot to him back then but he didn't allow himself to get closer than he did with her even though she was the closest thing he had to a girlfriend or even a lover for how close they were. It caused them both pain when they both decided that they should stop, Ty knew they both had good reasons for it, Haley didn't want their friendship to end because she pushed to far and she also didn't want a boyfriend. She didn't like dating guys and only had dated one and had one bad sex experience with the same one that ended up causing her trauma before she met Ty. She loved women but she loved Ty to a degree, they started as friends but their feelings grew for each other and she wanted to try again with a man that she knew wouldn't hurt her.

He didn't force her to do anything he let her get comfortable with him taking it slow day by day, week by week starting with just being fully clothed and literally sleeping with one another, though Ty was shirtless, to being in underwear and letting her get used to his body letting her feel his body against hers. Eventually they worked their way to her goal of trying again and all the time they put into getting there before hand had made their relationship rock solid, there was nothing that could break their friendship now because of how much trust they had for each other. The last time Ty saw Haley though was almost a year and a half now, they spoke periodically during that time but the last day they physically saw each other was on the Citadel when he gave her the necklace.

_The Citadel_

_ Ty and Haley had spent the day together roaming around different parts of the Citadel laughing and joking, holding hands and kissing and doing all things that people against public display of affection hated. It was the last day they would spend together before Haley went back to her home and Ty went back to doing what he did best, surviving and hunting people down. They finally approached their exits, one led to a docking hanger for the taxi Haley was taking and the other was to the next docking bay where Ty had his space bike, Ty walked her to the door that would lead her to the transport and when they got there they both stopped and faced each other. Haley intertwined their hands as she looked at them and said "It's been a long year and a half hasn't it." "Yea it has but its been a good year and a half." Ty said._

_ Haley looked up at him and Ty knew she was holding back her emotions as she asked "Are you going to be okay Ty, I know you can take care of yourself in fights but I mean will you be okay without me being around?" "Will I be okay without you being around? No. I'm going to miss you being around, I'm going to miss you giving me shit, I'm going to miss seeing your smile and hearing you laugh and I'm definitely going to miss you screwing my brains out." Ty said in a joking manor at the last part. _

_Haley smiled and blushed a little then Ty continued "So no I won't be okay but I will survive and we'll stay in touch with one another, what about you?" Ty asked. Haley, who usually would have made a joke, looked down at their hands and said "No I'm going to miss this, what we have." "We will always have this no matter what happens." Ty said. Haley looked up at him and said "Ty I…I know that we both agree on not taking this any further but I just wanted to say that…" Haley stopped and Ty said "Go ahead Haley say what's on your mind." _

_Haley took a deep breath and said "I just wanted to say that you will always own a part of my heart and if you ever wanted to take it all you could. I know you don't want to and I don't want to ruin our friendship because of that but you've done so much for me in the past year and a half and you never expected anything out of it because you were just doing out of your kind heart but…" Haley stopped and with a shrug of her shoulders she said "Oh fuck it." _

_Haley leaned up and into Ty as she kissed him and un-intertwined their hands and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. Their tongues danced with each other as Haley and Ty poured out all their feelings for one another into the kiss, Haley pressed her body against Ty's but it wasn't enough she wanted more but being arrested for indecent exposure wasn't on the to do list. As they parted Haley said "I don't know if that made what I was trying to say clear since I've always sucked at trying to express my feelings through words but I think what I'm trying to say is thank you for everything and that I have and will always love you." Haley said. _

_Ty reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace he had bought her a few months back but didn't give to her since he couldn't find the right moment to give it to her but now was the best opportunity and probably the last. Ty grabbed her right hand with his and opened it, he put the necklace slowly into her hand and said "I got this for you and engraved something into the back of the pendent that I mean with all my being." "What is it?" Haley asked as he closed her hand and held it closed. "Something tangible in case something ever happens to me and I don't come back. I can vouch that sometimes memories aren't enough when you love someone and you lose them, you need something tangible." "Ty please don't talk like that." Haley pleaded. "I just want you to be happy no matter what happens to me, there's tons of women where you live so find one that steals your heart and live happily. I love you Haley more than I ever thought I'd love anyone after what I went through, be safe and if you are ever in trouble or think the Suns are coming after you call me or get Darian to call me." _

_Haley's hand was still being held closed by Ty as she basically threw herself into Ty's arms and held him tightly with both hands after wrenching it away from him. They ended the hug and kissed each other one last time then Ty said "Stay safe Haley." Haley smirked a little and said "You stay safe, I love you Ty." "Forever and a day Haley." Haley smiled as a tear ran down her face; Ty wiped it away and said "Now go on and call when you feel the need to talk I'll always answer." Ty said. Haley nodded and turned away and so did Ty as he walked to where his space bike was, he never looked back and never saw Haley's face when she saw the engraving but it was better that way, they'd be friends forever this way and he wouldn't have to worry about her getting dragged in as a hostage by the Suns like Ka'Reena was._

* * *

Ty flipped the pendent over in his hand and looked at the engraving, _4ever & a day I'm yours,_ if there was ever another person who stole his heart it was Haley and he meant what he engraved but deep down they both knew it wasn't to be. He looked at it a little longer until he decided to go out as well to see what his brother and dad were doing; he pocketed the necklace and grabbed the breather mask attaching to his shorts again as he walked out of his room and into the mess hall where he found them.

They were sitting down relaxing at the table with Garrus, Jack and now Shepard. "There's the crazy asshole, you tore those guys to shreds Ty I'm impressed." Jack said. "I thought Shepard was the only one to go against impossible odds for friends you were completely outnumbered and wounded but you still killed them all. You move with such speed and so ferociously and smoothly when you lose control, I think you made Jack here look sane." Garrus said. "Bite me Vakarian. Nice battle cry Ty I almost felt scared." Jack said with a smile. "Ha that was nothing you should've seen him the first time he lost control, it scared me." Z said with a smirk.

Ty sat down next to his brother and said "It's nothing that I should be completely proud of but thank you for the compliments." Z wrapped his arm around Ty and said "Come on don't be so modest what you did today was crazy, crazy in a good way though. You killed the bad guy and saved the girl like you are so fond of doing." "Says the man whose only partners have been women exception of me and daddy." Ty said with a smirk. Z let go of him and raised his hands in an I surrender motion and said "Guilty as charged but look at your track record." "Not as impressive as daddy's that's for sure." Ty said with a glance up and smirk at his dad. Mr. Rhoddy smiled and took a sip of his drink which looked like a flavored water of some sort since that was the only thing he drank, "You three have had to have some interesting adventures over the years being on the run from the Alliance, care to share any?" Garrus asked. All three looked at each other and nodded, "Alright what was an interesting adventure, there was the one some years back that I had where my lover wanted to have human kids." Mr. Rhoddy said.

_Whoa what the fuck is he talking about, his lover wanted to have human kids, like he was with an Alien not a human?_ Ty raised an eyebrow and asked "What the hell are you talking about wasn't the egg a human?" "No she was a Drell; I'll explain that later to you two since its something I've been meaning to tell you. Okay here's one a few years back while I wasn't killing and you two were off being mercs I took a trip down to Earth to see New Mexico and Florida." "That was ballsy can't imagine it went well for you." Jack said. Mr. Rhoddy laughed and said "It went well until someone ratted me out to the Alliance and they came looking, I was minding my own business when…"

Thirty Minutes Later

Mr. Rhoddy finished the story as he said "Followed me from Earth all the way to the Citadel and all the way to the Terminus system where they backed off, had to repair my bike from the fire I sustained but they gave a good chase." Jack was smirking and Garrus was shaking his head, Shepard was the only one who it didn't surprise "I remember hearing from Aria about that when I got back from whatever I was doing for the Suns." Ty said. "What about you Z you do anything as crazy as that?" Garrus asked.

Z nodded and said "Well there was this one time I was working on this colony in 2176 when I was 17 and they were attacked by this group of Batarians, they brought enough people to try to take over a colony but I have no idea how many it was. They began laying siege to the colony and all the fighters the colony had were disoriented and were getting slaughtered so I grabbed a communicator and had them call a full retreat while I began holding off the mercenaries. Some stayed with me and fought but most were too wounded to fight leaving me fighting them basically single handedly. Fighting was nonstop constant back and forth shooting, ran out of stock ammo so had to start using their guns which weren't all good until finally the Alliance decided to show up and scare them off. I saw the ship fly away but knowing that they could just recruit more and comeback or attack another place I had a 'diplomatic' discussion with one of the wounded so I could find their base, he gave up the info and I found their space station. After I redecorated it with explosives it fell from orbit into a nearby moon that had research bases on it."

Everyone except Jack kind of winced and Garrus said "Ouch that probably took a lot of civilian lives." Z smirked and said "That's what I thought turns out it was a secret Cerberus base that was doing some fucked up tests that got blown to smithereens." Jack started laughing and Ty said with a smirk "Guess Cerberus has a reason to hate us even if it was unintentional." "That's not the craziest thing I've ever done but its high up there on the list of shit I've done." Z said. "Any interesting things you three did together?" Shepard asked. "Taking down part of the Suns was fun." Z said with a smirk. "Then there was the time we took that space station for ourselves that we live on now from those crazy biotic activists, that was a grueling fight that lasted days and we almost lost Ty on that one." Mr. Rhoddy said. "I don't know about you guys but I wanna hear how the dick almost died that time." Jack said. Ty smirked but then heard Miranda's voice "Ty Haley's waking up you should come talk to her." "Enjoy the story I gotta talk to Haley." Ty said.

Ty got up and walked quickly to the med-bay hoping to get there before she awoke completely, he didn't want her to worry that she was being tested on still and he wanted to see her alive and in good condition. As he walked into the med-bay he saw Haley's eyes opening so he grabbed a chair and brought it to the side of her bed and sat down next to her as he waited for her to get her bearings. She looked right and then left and saw him sitting there with his hood down, "…Ty is that you?" Haley asked. "Forever and a day." Ty said with a smile.

Haley smiled and leaned over to Ty to give him a hug, which he gave her, feeling her body against his reminded him of how much he missed her and the feel of someone he cared about being in his arms. It felt damn good. "I knew you would find me." Haley said softly into his chest. "I'm just glad I was able to." Ty said. They held each other for a few moments longer until she let go of him and asked "You okay?" "No but I'm surviving." Ty said. Haley smiled a little and gave Ty a peck on the lips, "Good to know some things never change." Haley said. Ty smirked and asked "How you feel?" "Good knowing you saved me." Haley said. Ty smiled and said "Thank the docs, if it weren't for them we wouldn't be talking." Haley looked over at them and said "Thank you."

All three nodded and Ty said "It wasn't easy finding you Haley but Jessica got me on the right track, I found your message and saw what you did on Freedoms Progress, why'd you go running at them?" "They were looking for me and I wanted them to just take me but well they took a few others, mom was one of them and they tortured her to get me to do tests." Haley said lowering her head. Ty grabbed her hand and said "I'm sorry Haley." "They put a bomb in her when you got there to show what was going to happen to me if you got through." Haley said. "We have her body just tell me what you want done and I'll take care of it." Ty said.

Haley nodded, he still couldn't believe what they had done to her mother to get Haley to do tests, it was despicable and now that he looked back on it after Shepard's pep talk, those people, if you could call them that, deserved every ounce of the painful death's he gave them. Haley looked back up at Ty and asked "Is Jessie alright?" "Yea she's fine probably worried sick about us all." Ty said. Haley smiled and said "That sounds like Jessie. I hope she took advantage of being with you like I told her to." "Yea she took advantage alright." Ty said remembering it clearly. "So was she better than me?" Haley asked with a smile. "Moving on, thanks for saving my ass with that barrier." Ty said. "It was my last hoorah if things went sour." Haley said with a smile. Ty smiled and said "That's my girl." "So what now?" Haley asked. "Get you back to Jessica and you two are going to live with us so we know you're always safe I on the other hand have a round trip to hell and back to attend to." Ty said. Haley rolled her eyes and said "Oh god what did you get yourself into now." Ty chuckled and said "You say that like I get into a bunch of trouble." "You do." Haley said giving a light laugh. Ty smirked and said "True but it's always for a good reason."

Ty stopped smiling as he remembered Freedom's Progress, her home was taken by the Collectors after she was taken and that was one of the main reasons he was having her stay with his family aside from keeping her safe. He hated being the bad news bearer but she had to know, "Haley…Freedoms Progress…it's gone. The Collectors took everyone there and I'm trying to help stop them from doing it to more colonies." Haley stopped smiling to and said "All my friends and all but one of my family were there." "I'm sorry Haley it happened some time after you were taken by the Suns, Commander Shepard is leading a group of us to stop them and rescue anyone we can."

Haley nodded but looked like she was going to cry not that he blamed her, losing all her friends and all but one of her family members in one blow could break most people, it had almost broken Ty when he had lost his own friends. Haley was a strong woman though there was no doubt about that, she had always been a fighter since the day he had met her. "If there's anything I have learned Haley it is that Shepard can do it, she has the will to make people follow her into hell itself and she's hell bent on stopping these guys and their masters so believe me when I say that if there are any survivors we will bring them back and if not we'll kill everyone who took them." Ty said trying to make Haley feel better. Haley nodded and said "I believe in you Ty and I know that you mean what you say you've never lied to me about anything, not even your past." "Thank you Haley that means a lot to hear you say that." Ty said.

Haley took a deep breath and said "Okay so can I get up and going yet?" Ty looked at Chakwas, Mordin and Miranda, who were all standing waiting for Ty and Haley to finish talking, and asked "What's the deal ladies and Mordin what's her medical status?" Chakwas stepped forward and said "Medically she's fine on the surface but the testing they did on her internally was harsh on her organs, I'd recommend taking your time recovering but we don't have the time to keep her here, she should be able to walk but help will probably be necessary." "I did some tests on the new amp they installed on her and some other tests and she may also become a powerful biotic and surpass most humans if she trains on it otherwise any attempt will make her nose bleed and make her pass out." Miranda said.

That was good to hear; Darian was a Cabal before and still trained with his biotics so he definitely would be able to help train her along with his dad and brother who were great fighting trainers. Ty looked at Mordin and asked "Mordin in your professional opinion do you think it's possible for Haley to have any more troubles with the bomb they implanted in her?" Mordin put his hand out and it had a little piece of metal in a cylinder shape he then said "No we took it out, if someone implants her again it would be problematic but she will not have trouble from this one." _Even better news._ "Alright thanks you guys I'm in even more debt to you for saving both my life and hers." Ty said. "Gratitude is all that is needed." Mordin said. Ty nodded and said "Thank you then. Haley what do you want me to do with your mom you shouldn't have to see her how she is." "I originally was planning on burying her at home but now I think I should cremate her." Haley said. "EDI this ship have a place to cremate someone?" Ty asked. EDI popped up behind him and said "No it does not but Illium does." "Alright I'll have Z take care of that while I get you back home, I'll be right back." Ty said.

Ty got up and EDI disappeared as he walked out the med-bay only to be greeted by Shepard's voice "You're crazy Ty." "No he's not…he's fucking psychotic." Jack said. "Thank you really I take that as a compliment, where's Jessica?" Ty asked. "Had Darian bring her to an apartment on Illium, he's watching over her right now why?" Z asked. "Haley's clear to go and I gotta pay Aria back along with this ship needs to get going so we can beat the Collectors so we gotta boogie." Ty said. "Boogie? Who the fuck says that?" Jack asked with a smirk. "We do, alright what about her mom?" Mr. Rhoddy asked. "She wants her cremated and in a nice vase, I'll take Haley to the apartment then find Aria and pay her back then we can all have one last hoorah before I come back. Z you mind taking care of Haley's mom?" Ty asked. Z shook his head and said "No but where do I get her cremated at?" "Here on Illium they have a place, EDI can give you directions if you ask her otherwise use the maps they have." Ty said. "Alright gents times wasting lets go get everything done with, we've shared enough stories for one evening." Mr. Rhoddy said standing up.

Z got up and said "Garrus, Jack, Shepard it's been a pleasure meeting you, look after Ty for us." "We would but he seems to have a tendency to do that on his own." Shepard said with a smirk. "Yea but we do it much more stylishly." Garrus said with his Turian smirk. "He's right about that." Jack said as she stood up. Ty, Z and Mr. Rhoddy walked back to the med-bay and walked in to see Haley sitting up already but not on her feet yet. "Well looky who decided to wake up." Z said with a smirk. "Z, Mr. Rhoddy!" Haley said in an excited voice. Z walked over and gave her a hug, "Hey there kido nice to see you in better shape and in our care again." Mr. Rhoddy said giving her a hug.

Ty smiled seeing Haley smile reminding him of the good times the four of them shared together and the times just the two had shared, Miranda was gathering her things to leave and Ty could see a little bit of a smile on her face. Maybe she did have a soft side; Miranda got her stuff and started walking towards the exit but was looking closely at his brother. _Oh my god is she checking him out…Holy crap she is!_ As she got close to Ty he grabbed her arm softly stopping her and said "I may be gone for the rest of the day if not until tomorrow so if you guys have to leave go ahead I'll come find you guys." Miranda nodded and said "Alright we may be still on Illium we have some business to settle here still, try not to run into trouble while you're out I don't think I have enough in me to save you again."

Ty kind of smiled and said "Is that an attempt at humor princess." Miranda smirked and said "Maybe. Don't take up to much time stopping the Collectors is our top priority and needs to be yours now." "It is don't worry princess, don't get killed by Jack while I'm gone." Ty said letting Miranda go. "I'll do my best Ty." Miranda said as she walked away. Ty looked back at his brother, dad, and Haley and said "Alright lets get going, Z you go on ahead and try not to cause any disturbances." Z smirked as he walked out and said "Who me cause disturbances, please you must have mistaken me for another criminal." All three rolled their eyes and Ty walked up to Haley and put his left arm around her back and his right arm under her legs and picked her light body off the bed, "You are such a gentleman." Haley said with sarcastic smile.

Ty had heard that too many times to know it was Haley's sarcastic side so he just rolled his eyes and smirked, they got to the elevator and hit the button before the doors opened Shepard walked by so Ty said "Hey Shep one thing before I go." Shepard stopped and asked "What?" The doors opened and Ty said "Thank you for the pep talk. Take care of yourself and the crew until I get back please." Shepard nodded with a smile and said "Consider it done." Ty nodded in a thanking manor and walked in the elevator, Mr. Rhoddy hit the button for the cargo hold and the doors closed. Haley was safe and his mission to make all those pay for what they had done had been completed, he had felt empty and lifeless before but now…now his life was starting again it seemed.

**A/N: Not much to say actually except thanks for reading, as you were and I'll see you next time.**


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Something of Value

**A/N/Disclaimer: Sorry for the delay computer shut down while I was working the other day and didn't save any thing so it took me a little while to get this chapter edited. Anywho I don't own the Mass Effect Universe Bioware/E/A does. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe so with that said onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

The elevator doors opened up to the Cargo Hold allowing Ty with Haley in his arms and Mr. Rhoddy to get out of it and start walking to their respective bikes which happened to be on the other side of the Cargo Hold. Haley had a look of contemplation on her face since the elevator had began descending down to the Cargo Hold but she finally looked up at Ty and said "I think Z has a secret admirer now." That made Mr. Rhoddy and Ty smirk, "Or is he himself checking out someone." Mr. Rhoddy countered.

Ty didn't catch if his brother was checking anyone out but he had noticed Miranda eyeing up Z which was weird in of itself. She believed in Cerberus but yet she was checking out a man who had a more potent hate for Cerberus than his younger brother. If the Illusive Man caught wind he'd no doubtly tell her to not engage unless she was going to kill him later or use her "assets" to make him fall for her and get him to start spilling information, which had about the same likelihood of Ty deciding to mate with a Hanar or Elcor. That thought made Ty shake slightly in disgust but not enough for anyone to notice, he had nothing against the two races but that was a train of thought he didn't want to go down.

Deciding it was best to get out of the train of thought Ty moved back to the conversation at hand, "Who Miranda?" Ty asked. "The pretty one in the white and black spandex with the really nice boobs and big ass." Haley said in an admiring way. Ty smirked as he said in a joking scolding tone "Haley no." "What I'm just admiring the art I was able to see on this ship, she was just one of the more stand out pieces of the art I saw." Haley said as she looked to be exploring a realm of thought that Ty didn't want to go on. Not wanting to give Haley the chance to explore any of that thought pattern Ty said "That's Miranda Lawson, she's Cerberus through and through…Or at least for now, who the hell knows what'll happen during this mission maybe we'll run along one of Cerberus's failed projects or the Illusive Man will finally show his true colors to her…You really think they'd fall for each other daddy I mean his hatred against Cerberus verses her belief in it, she'd try to probe him and then they'd kill each other." Mr. Rhoddy shrugged as he said "You never know buddy, love is anything but predictable and it can blossom in the strangest places."

He had a point, love was about the most unpredictable thing Ty had ever encountered and probably something he would never be able to predict but then again he wasn't looking for love. Ty put Haley on the back of his bike then un-hooked and handed Haley the breather mask and asked "Where's this apartment?" "Follow me and try to keep up." Mr. Rhoddy said as his he put his mask on. Ty put his hood up and his mask came out and covered his eyes, mouth and nose, "Surely you aren't challenging me to a race daddy when I don't know the destination." Ty said. "No not at all why would I do that." Mr. Rhoddy said sarcastically. Ty shook his head and said "EDI could you open the cargo bay doors." "Command confirmed Ty." EDI said. The doors opened and they both lifted off and flew out, Ty let his dad get ahead and followed him across Illium while he flew he opened his omni-tool and dialed Arias private number, it took one ring and she picked up, "That took longer than I expected." Aria said.

Ty smirked behind his mask at Aria's opening comment and said "Yea well things got complicated but I won't bore you with the details but everything turned out for the best and Scrum is dead along with me finding some information you might want to read." "Really I thought you'd owe me longer, that's a shame. Anyway you ready to pay me back you still owe me that." Aria said. "Yea just send the coordinates to my omni-tool and I'll be there soon just gotta drop Haley off, hell it might be at the same place." Ty said. "Let me check." Aria said.

Ty followed his dad right and towards a big hotel looking building, he wasn't surprised at all that Aria knew where he was going despite him not knowing himself. Staying one step ahead was one of the reasons why Aria was still the Pirate Queen of Omega. "Well it's not the same building but its close; I also have something you might consider of value." Aria said. Ty sighed inwardly thinking that he would be in debt to Aria again, not that he didn't enjoy their time together but he needed to focus on the Collectors. "Am I gonna have to pay you back for that also?" Ty asked. "No this one is free of charge just because I know what it meant to you at the time." Aria said. Ty could kind of sense a smile across her face like it was something that would be a real surprise but he ignored the feeling and said cautiously "Alright I'll see you shortly then." "See ya soon." Aria said.

They arrived at the big hotel and flew up to the top where the room was located and a landing pad was, as they landed their bikes on it Ty took notice of the custom space bike that Ty had made for Darian parked on the pad as well. Like Ty's, his dad's and Z's bikes Darian's had a glow as well but his was bright white and instead of being multiple lines from the back to the front like the others Ty had made them come down from the middle of the seat and in the formation of Darian's facial markings. They were similar to Garrus's markings except for the fact that Darian had a few extra markings and didn't have half of his face blown off.

Ty chuckled slightly at his own joke then helped Haley off of his bike and into his arms before walking over to the door where his dad was waiting for him. They walked in and Ty saw that it was a nice place but it was definitely one of his dad's or brother's safe houses though judging on the décor which looked similar to their home base. Ty walked over to the couch which sat in front of a vid screen and had a love seat adjacent to it on the right if you were standing in front of it and a comfy looking seat on its left that made Ty want to sit down for a moment.

Ty sat Haley down then heard a very familiar voice "Haley you're okay!" Jessica nearly yelped as she ran over from the bedroom. Ty saw that there were a few other bedroom doors down a hall and probably even more space further down a different hall but he didn't have much time to look as Jessica nearly knocked him over as she rounded the couch and dove down to Haley and wrapped her up in a hug which Haley returned back. They held each other tightly for a few moments until Haley let go and brought Jessica up so they could look at each other, "Jessie I missed you so much." Haley said. Jessica nodded tears nearly in her eyes and wrapped herself around Haley again and kissed her cheek before she said "I did my best to find Ty as soon as I could." "I know you did, I got some good and terrible news." Haley said. "I don't want terrible news when you get back, what's the good news?" Jessica asked. "I've got biotics now." Haley said. Jessica backed off of Haley and gave her an estranged look as she asked "How is that good news you have always had them though you never trained with them?"

Haley stretched her body and said "Yea but now I know I can do a lot with them so I'll start training with them but the terrible news can't wait its about mom sis." _Right she would proba- Wait what? Sis? Like Sister? Bu- Shit I- Fuck me._ Hearing sis hit Ty like a truck now figuring out that one they were related and two why they looked so similar, he had never considered the possibility of "more than friends" being sisters he had jumped straight to a conclusion that was possible but not right. The good news was he didn't feel so bad because he didn't help somebody cheat but the bad news was that he had sex with Haley's sister and he had told himself he was never going to have sex with a close friend's sister or a girlfriend's sister if they weren't together anymore.

He figured it would cause complications but so far neither seemed upset though he wasn't going to start going around screwing his remaining friend's sisters. "Hold on I hate to break up this reunion but you just said sis like in sister right? I thought that you two were in a relationship not related." They both gave him a weird look mixed with a little disturbed obviously at the thought of them being more than just sisters and asked in unison "Why?" "Jess said you were more than friends so I assumed that since your preoccupations before and after me Haley that you two were, ya know together. I noticed a resemblance when I met Jessica but didn't take complete heed to it because you never mentioned a sister, you both a lot alike now that I really think about it."

Jessica began to think for a moment as she scratched her head, "Sorry buddy we found out after you left and forgot to tell you." Mr. Rhoddy said. Jessica seemed to have an "oh" moment and then she said "Oh that's right I did say that, I wonder why I didn't tell you we were sisters. Probably just nervous because I was on Omega alone, I guess I should've phrased my words better." Jessica said with a nervous smile. Before Ty could say anything Darian walked out of the bedroom that Jessica had come from and didn't seem to notice anyone so Ty decided to use his most authorative tone as he said "Lieutenant Darian Talin what in the hell are you doing!"

Ty was right in his assumption of him not noticing since he almost jumped out of his armor because of how loud Ty was but then attempted to snap into a salute only to stumble into the kitchen counter, though Darian had worked out most of his military habits while working with Ty some crept back in when he was caught off guard. Ty was attempting to keep himself from laughing while Haley and Jessica themselves were stifling their laughs but not doing a very good job at it. Darian looked up at Ty and shook his head at him as he said "Dammit Ty you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

Ty smirked as Darian got himself situated and continued his way to the fridge, "Come on Darian after all the hell we walked your afraid of me giving you a heart attack?" Ty asked. Darian got a dextro drink out of the fridge and then looked at Ty and said in a mockingly serious tone, "Yes." He shut the fridge door to accent his response which only made Ty laugh a little more. Despite wanting to stay and talk with them all Aria was waiting, and she was not a patient woman. "I know we just arrived but I gotta go and meet Aria and we all know she's not patient, when I'm done lets all meet at that Illium bar, Eternity I think it is so we can all have one last laugh before I have to go on my round trip to hell." "Alright call when you're heading out so we can be there." Mr. Rhoddy said.

As Ty nodded and began to leave he stopped himself short and reached into his pocket feeling the necklace fall into his hand, Ty turned and walked back over to Haley and said "Haley I think your missing something." Ty pulled out the necklace and handed it to her; she grabbed it as Ty said "Jedore saw fit to return it to me." That got a chuckle out of Darian and Mr. Rhoddy, Haley smiled and said "I thought it was gone forever thank you Ty." "No problem, love you guys." Ty said. "Aw love you to Ty." Darian said sarcastically with a smile. Ty rolled his eyes and gave him the finger before walking out and getting back onto his bike. He checked his omni-tool for the coordinates Aria sent him and put it into his bike, his mask came over his face as he lifted off and he thought, _damn I really wish I didn't have to pay Aria back so soon Jess is about to learn that the Blue Suns killed their mother and that their home and all of their family were kidnapped by the Collectors. Those motherfuckers are going to pay for working for the Reapers…Hopefully Z gets back soon so he can help Darian comfort the both of them even though arriving with a vase with their mothers ashes won't be helpful._

Ty shook off the guilt of leaving Haley to explain what happened and tried to stay focus on flying knowing that the guilt would kill him, maybe literally if he didn't get to Aria. He got to the building and started flying up to the penthouse suite and as he ascended he saw the sun setting in the distance. It was a magnificent sight and a bit of wish fulfillment since he had been wishing to see a sunset for sometime now. He had seen it when he spoke with Liara but he hadn't taken the time to enjoy it and though he was going to have to land his bike momentarily he let the sunset absorb into his being filling him with happiness. It wasn't Earths sun but that didn't matter it was a damn sunset and something he had been hoping to see for a while now but there was a memory he had of a sunset on Earth as a child but the memory was broken in pieces in his head so he truly didn't know how he was there and who brought him since he figured it wasn't his grandfather. He always assumed it was his dad but after what his dad said on the Normandy he had started second guessing that judgment even though he didn't want to.

He reached the top and as he parked on the landing pad his mask came off, Ty got off his bike and walked into the penthouse suite which happened to be a huge two story room with tons of space mixed with a lot of decorations and normal things houses had just on a more high end scale. Ty looked around as he walked in for Aria who wasn't in sight but he decided to follow his instincts figuring she'd be waiting for him in the bedroom despite there not being any rose petals leading the way to it. That made Ty begin to laugh out loud to himself which he figured would make him look crazy despite his already strange appearance. The thought of Aria leaving a trail of rose petals for him or anyone else to follow was like expecting to have a conversation with a Thresher Maw. It would be a cold day in hell before that happened.

Ty looked around the suite looking for the bedroom when he noticed a door slightly closed but cracked open slightly on the second floor, Ty went up the stairs to the top floor and knocked on it as he walked in and said "Knock knock, Aria you in here." As he guessed Aria was standing in the room looking out the window in the room at the sunset. It didn't take long for Ty to realize what exact outfit she was wearing after noticing the white dress sleeveless jacket she had on with the long white skirt, it was the same outfit she wore when they originally made the deal just this time she was bare footed.

In the reflection he could see the black skin tight shirt she was wearing under the jacket that had an opening in the shape of a circle between her neck and chest revealing her cleavage but there was another below it revealing the bottom of her breasts and two others below it on showing off more of her purple skin near her waistline, "Hey there loverboy what took you?" Aria said not breaking her gaze off the sunset. Loverboy, that was a nickname he had been given by her when he had told her that he couldn't do the usual pay back because he was with Haley at the time.

Though the two never called it a relationship he treated it as one and he didn't agree with sleeping around while you were in a relationship. Aria understood, she didn't like that she was "being deprived" in her words but she didn't make to big of deal out of it except for giving him the nickname of Loverboy which ended up sticking even after he stopped seeing Haley. Ty shrugged in response to her half question half statement and said "You know usual." Ty walked over to her side and looked out the window with her, "Admiring the sunset or admiring you're soon to be empire?" Ty asked partially joking partially not.

Aria gave a small smile and said "It may be little bit of both. So all those slimy bastards are finally dead?" Ty nodded and said "Yea, hard to imagine it's over but it finally is. Wish my friends were still all alive to see it but I'm sure they are still watching out there." Aria looked at him and her light blue eyes made contact with his deep purple eyes as she read his facial features, body language and his eyes for something, she began to get a bit of a smile on her face, "What?" Ty asked. "Your back, maybe not all the way yet but I can see the man who I grew to like again and I'm only going to say this once but it is damn good to see him again."

She was right that he was coming back around, when you lose everything and become a shell of who you are and then suddenly you start to become yourself again you begin to notice the changes in yourself from the emotions you hadn't felt in awhile to feeling your posture change from mostly straight to fully straight again. He wasn't back completely but he was feeling better than he had felt in years, the emotional wounds he had been dealt would never fully heal but maybe they wouldn't be making his soul bleed out anymore. "Thanks Aria. You know I was expecting roses up the stairs when I got here." Ty said in a joking manor. Aria barked out a laugh as she turned around and walked to the bed, "Really? Well I was expecting a bouquet from you." Aria countered. "Illium was fresh out." Ty joked back.

Aria smiled and sat down on the bed, Ty met her light blue eyes again as he took in her smirk, she may have been hundreds of years older than him maybe even going on a thousand but she was still a good looking woman, "How long until you return to your fight?" Aria asked. Ty shrugged and walked towards her and said "I've got the rest of today and part of tomorrow to be with you and then my family before I go back to fighting for the safety of the Galaxy." "You trust her?" Aria asked. "Shepard I'm beginning to trust with my life, I have no doubts in her at all to the point I'm pretty sure she'd assist in letting me escape from the Alliance. Cerberus and the Illusive Man I don't trust at all, I fully expect them to betray us at some point and I think Shepard does to." "Why are you doing this Ty? You don't owe the Galaxy anything." Aria said.

There was actually a bit of worry in Aria's tone though Ty would never say anything about it, he understood her worry and her point on him not owing the Galaxy anything. Why was he risking it all on a suicide mission, why would he put his life on the line for a Galaxy that outcasted him and had been hunting him down since he was eight years old. To him though it didn't make a difference what the Galaxy thought of him, this was bigger than any grudge he could hold against the Galaxy. The Reapers were a threat to everyone he cared for and Shepard needed people on her side, people that would raise hell no matter what and he was a hell raiser.

Ty walked forward to Aria and knelt down in front of her since she was lower than he was when she was sitting, "The Reapers are a threat to everyone I care about Aria. I can't sit and wait for them to come, I won't be able to live with myself if I sit on my ass and do nothing while people are out here getting kidnapped by the Reapers puppets, my code won't allow me to do that. I have to fight." Ty said. Aria shook her head slightly and spat "Damn your code."

Ty smirked slightly at Aria and said "Aria you've watched over me since we first met, you know that my code is the only way to make sure I don't turn into what I hunt but it isn't the main reason I fight. The safety of my friends and family are what drive me into battle knowing that maybe just maybe I can save them or prevent them from getting hurt. I'd run into the deepest pits of hell for anyone I care for and I'd murder without second thought anyone attempting to harm them. The Reapers are threatening the people I care about and that means I am going to kill them whether directly or indirectly and if fighting with Shepard means everyone I care about gets to live without fear of the Reapers killing us then I'll fight by her side." Ty said.

Ty stood up since the kneeling was making his knees a bit sore, Aria looked up at him and smiled then said "You are very interesting Ty." Ty smirked and said "I know the Queen of Omega has told me that many times." Aria stood up and pushed his hood down revealing his face fully, "Feeling dramatic are you." Aria said. Ty shrugged and said "Nah I just thought it sounded good there instead of saying the de facto ruler of Omega." Aria smiled and said "Well at least I don't have to worry about you forgetting the number one rule of Omega." Ty simply smiled and said "Wouldn't think of backstabbing you Aria you've helped me since the beginning."

Aria smiled and grabbed him by his tank top then dragged him down to the bed with him on top as her lips met his and her tongue "forced" its way into his mouth, or at least that's what Ty would say if a joke ever prompted itself for him to be able to say that she forced herself onto him. Ty moved from her lips to her neck trailing kisses along it but stopped himself short before things got out of hand since he had a comment that came to mind.

He brought his face back to hers up with a slight smirk on his face as her predatory gaze met his eyes, she didn't appreciate him stopping apparently, and he said "Besides fucking with you is overrated and not good for my life expectancy, I simply prefer the rule of don't fuck with Aria with the word 'don't' replaced with I and the word 'with' taken out." Aria rolled her eyes at the comment but she couldn't stop the edges of her lips turning up into a smile before she grabbed him and rolled him onto his back and got on top of him, "I can arrange that." Aria said. "We already did Aria." Ty said sarcastically. Aria once again rolled her eyes in response and said "Oh just shut up and kiss me loverboy."

Their lips met once more as she moved back down to him, Ty let his hands glide up her clothed back until he got to her shoulders. He pushed her up slightly as he brought his body up but never once missing a beat during the kiss they were passionately involved in, Aria brought her hands away from his face and neck where they had been as Ty grabbed the shoulder area on her jacket and began to help her strip it off revealing more of her skin despite still having the black skin tight tank top that had circle openings in it.

They moved themselves to the center of the bed and Ty turned the tables on Aria as Aria attempted to push him back down he made sure she ended up on her back with him between her legs. He didn't have any preference on top or bottom really, both were enjoyable but she had on that huge white skirt and that needed to go and then he'd let her force herself back on top of him. Ty kissed Aria on the lips and then began to kiss down her chest in the open spaces that she had which meant the tops of her breasts first, then her stomach right below the bottom of her breasts and then at her waistline where he stopped momentarily as he looked up at Aria. "You can be such a fucking tease Ty." Aria said in a low tone that almost sounded like a growl.

Despite the tone in her voice sounding agitated Ty knew that she wasn't, she had a pleased smile on her face but the predatory look in her eyes was still there, she wasn't going to let him do it much longer so he decided to have a little fun before she decided to attempt to get him pinned down under her muscular legs again. Ty pulled down the waist line of her skirt to show about only six inches of her left thigh though most of it was under the underwear she had on but that didn't stop Ty as he let his lips and tongue run across or kiss her thigh. He made sure to get as far as he could down her inner thigh without going at a weird angle or making it so blatant he was doing this for fun, after running down and back a few times making Aria let out a throaty hmm of approval each time he made his way back up to her waistline where he planned to do the same to the other side.

Before he could do the same to her other thigh her hands ran across his face as she said "You do that on the other side and I'll make you pay tonight." That was reason enough not to, Aria's hands ran through his hair slightly and Ty let her fingers explore his head and hair. The few Asari he had been with always seemed to enjoy running their fingers through his hair probably due to their lack of hair but Ty never minded since the feeling of someone running their fingers through his hair always felt good, hell when he wasn't doing it out of stress he liked running his hands through his hair. He wasn't sure but he believed the feeling had to do with nerve endings either way though he had shut his eyes as Aria did it.

Aria began playing around with his hair sending shivers across Ty's body as he leaned down to her stomach and kissed at it while she continued to run her fingers through his hair. Aria brought her hands out of his hair after a minute of playing with his hair while he kissed at her stomach and chest and then let him proceed to take off the long skirt she had on, under the skirt she had a black piece of underwear but Ty didn't pay much mind to it as he made his way back up to Aria's face, Aria's knees gripped both of Ty's sides as her hands ran across his face and into the back of his hair as she kissed him. Aria's biotics began to glow around them both but they weren't coming to life fully yet as they died down after they began to glow. Ty felt Aria's weight shift slightly and then he found himself on his back again and Aria on top of him yet again, Aria grabbed at the edge of his tank top so Ty sat up and let her take it off of him and toss it to the same side he tossed her skirt.

Aria grabbed the edge of her skin tight tank top next and began taking it off. Though the shirt itself left nothing for the imagination seeing her bare skin was far better than seeing it obscured. Aria brought her hands to the back of his neck again as she kissed him on the lips while she pushed her bare chest up against his while she forced his weight backwards so he would be laying down on his back again. Ty ran his hands up her sides and to her back slowly and softly as they kissed, they both had a long night ahead of them and they would both enjoy it.

The Next Day

The Illium sunrise gleamed through the window and into the bedroom stirring Ty from his sleep, Aria was still asleep next to him with an arm over his torso with a slight smile on her face more than likely from the dream she was having whatever it was. The night was fun and during all the passion Aria had melded with Ty as she neared her final climax and maintained the meld through the remainder of the time they were awake which made the ending of the night great. Ty enjoyed the melding process and being on the receiving end since he didn't go unconscious from it and everything that it did, he hoped that the very few times he had done his more intimate joining that it felt as good as the Asari's did though so far he had yet to hear bad of his own joining.

Ty got Arias arm off of him gently and sat himself up so he was looking out the window at the sunrise which, like the sunset the night before, was beautiful. The pinks and purples mixed with the yellows and oranges creating what looked like an airbrushed sky. Ty couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight; it looked so peaceful out there with the sky cars flying around and the way the colors of the sunrise bounced off the buildings to the room he was in. Ty contemplated laying back down next to Aria while he waited for her to get up while he watched the sunrise or if he should get up and going but before he could decide he felt Aria's left hand and then her arm wrap around his lower abdomen as she pulled the two of them together so her stomach was against his lower back, Ty looked back at Aria seeing her holding her body up with her right hand so she was eye level with Ty as she let her fingers on her left hand move up to his shoulder and start running up and down it. Ty gave her a slow kiss on her lips which she reciprocated, as they parted Ty said "Hey there sleeping beauty, how you feel?"

Aria had a pleased smile on her face as she said "Good." "Not fantastic?" Ty asked with a smirk. Aria just rolled her eyes while her mouth quirked up into a smirk "You ready to get up and going?" Ty asked. "What's the hurry you could always stay a while longer and we can have some more fun." Aria said with a suggestive smile. Ty smiled and said "As much as I want to, definitely after last night, I can't Aria I need to get prepared for the mission I signed up for since the Collectors are going to have my collective boot up their ass." Aria rolled her eyes again at him and said "You and your missions, maybe one day you'll come back and work with me exclusively." Ty put on his best mock hurt face as he said "But I thought I did great working with you exclusively last night."

Aria gave him a biotic punch in the arm but it wasn't a very hard punch thankfully, "I made a deal and promise and I have to see it through just like I did with you and still do to this day. I have some data on the Suns you might want where do you want me to send it your personal inbox or one of your guys?" Ty asked. "My inbox, lets shower together afterwards I have something for you." Aria said getting up.

Aria and Ty got off of the bed and as Ty began to walk towards the shower Aria grabbed his hands and made sure that he made it to the shower with her. They both got into the large shower with Aria turning the water on to a good temperature before pulling Ty into her chest and wrapping her arms around his neck as he brought his hands to her waist and met her lips as she came in for a kiss. The washed each other down amongst other things and after their long pleasurable shower they got out and dried off.

Ty started getting dressed in his clothes that were scattered across the room while Aria got dressed in what she usually wore on Omega since she had brought a medium sized duffle bag that carried her extra outfit, she put her dress jacket, shirt and skirt in it but Ty also noticed some weapons in it. Ty hooked up his Omni-tool and sent the information the Suns had to Aria as he followed her down the stairs to the kitchen where she pulled a box that looked like it was for jewelry out of her duffle bag and put it on the counter while she put her bag down and zipped it up. Aria stood up and picked up the jewelry box and said "Back when Ka'Reena was murdered and you had Grizz take her body while you chased after Tarak and Jedore something went missing that she had and I knew it was something that she valued which meant you valued it."

Aria opened the box and pulled out a very familiar necklace that Ty had once admired everyday, "It took some time but better late than never, I heard from one of my guys that Tarak's bitch Jentha had acquired it from Tarak so when she got killed during the Archangel incident I had my guys search her body for it and she still had it so I made sure I got it." Aria handed it to him and Ty grabbed it and laid it across his hands, it was a short platinum chain that had a medium sized nine sided star as a pendent, he honestly couldn't believe what he was holding in his hands.

He figured Ka'Reena still had it on her when she was murdered and he always figured that her family had it now since they would have found it on her but seeing it in his hands rendered him nearly speechless except for one sentence he had memorized, "Este es su estrella guia." Ty said in Spanish as he looked at it in awe. "That isn't Quarian language is it something you humans speak?" Aria asked. Ty nearly didn't hear Aria but shook the shock from his body and said "Sorry that was Spanish a human language what I said was this is her guiding star, she considered it a symbol for not only her pilgrimage but for her race as a whole. I thought it was destroyed or I didn't see it when I took her to her family." Ty felt his emotions inside building up but he had them controlled for the moment, "I'm going to need to drink some Noverian rum after I say this but it only felt right to get it back to you as not only a token of my appreciation for you but because it belonged to someone you cherished…I feel the need to kill someone now after saying that." Aria said looking disgusted at the words she had just spoke.

Ty nodded with a slight smile on his face due to the look on Aria's face but he was holding his emotions back as he hooked it around his neck then he grabbed the pendent to look at it for a moment before he let it drop against his chest. He looked back up to Aria and said "Thank you Aria this really means a lot." Aria shook off the disgusted look then smiled at Ty and said "Don't mention it loverboy." Ty smirked at the nickname and asked "You're never gonna move past that are you?"

Aria gave him a passionate kiss that they shared for a minute then as they parted she said "Not until you're either mine or someone else's." Ty couldn't help but chuckle at her response but then he said "Thank you, I'll be in touch and I hope the info helps." Ty started walking away when Aria called after him, "And Ty take good care of yourself if I here about you dying on this mission I'll personally bring you back so I can kill your ass again." Ty looked back with a smirk knowing what she really meant and said "Thanks for the heads up, take good care of yourself Aria thanks for everything you've ever done for me." "This better not be the last time I see you loverboy." Aria said with what Ty thought might have been a little emotion but his ears had deceived him before. Ty put his hood up and said "I'll see you when this is over if not before count on that, be careful and stay safe Aria." "You better do the same Ty." Aria said. Ty turned around and walked out to his space bike and jumped on it, he was going to call his dad to tell him to meet him soon but he had one last stop before that.

EDI popped up on his bike as his mask came over his mouth as he was lifting off and she asked "Enjoy your evening last night Ty?" Ty chuckled and said in a joking manor "Wouldn't you like to know." "I did not mean to offend you with my inquiry." EDI said. "I was joking EDI yea it was fun, the crew still on Illium?" Ty asked. "Yes the commander, Grunt and Mordin are helping out Ms. T'Soni right now." EDI said. "Can you patch me through to Liara?" Ty asked. "Yes setting up link now." EDI said. Ty took a right with the traffic towards a separate area of Nos Astra as Liara voice came into his ear, "Yes Ty how can I help?" Liara asked. "Sorry I'm not down their helping you right now Liara I'm sure I don't need to explain why but I'm heading to an area on Nos Astra to get something is there anyway I can assist you and Shepard?" Ty said. "Yes I know why you aren't down here since a certain Aria T'Loak had a penthouse rented but since you are offering your assistance and…now I know where exactly you are going, do you really need more tatt- never mind I forgot you lost all of your right arms tattoo's. Anyway there's a terminal down there I need you to hack so I can get the last information on my target, think you can help?" Liara asked.

Ty started to land and asked "What's the terminal look like?" "Its nothing abnormal, you've hacked them before when we worked together. When you do hack it and get the information contact me." Liara said. "Ten four." Ty said as he got off his bike. "What?" Liara asked. "It means okay, I'll contact you soon." Ty said. Ty's mask came off and he started looking around for the closest information kiosk he could find, he wandered around for a few minutes until he found what he was looking for. As he walked up to it he got his Omni-tool ready to go and couldn't help but wonder if it would be information on the Shadow Broker, he hoped she was getting closer to finding him so she could save Feron but he wasn't going to let her do it alone despite knowing that if Liara had the chance she probably would do it but hire a bunch of mercenaries, she wouldn't want to bother him since he was busy is what she would more than likely say to him. He didn't have as much personal stake except for wanting to kick the Shadow Brokers ass for taking Feron but that was reason enough for him to make sure he helped her, after all he was the one who was with her when they lost Feron.

He pressed a few buttons on the tool and a green light flashed on the terminal and a list popped up on his Omni-tool, a Batarian, a Vorcha, a Krogan and a few others that all were coordinated with someone called the observer, not the Shadow Broker must be someone close to him. Ty linked Liara in and said "Hey Liara I got the info but it doesn't make any sense to me, what has Shepard come up with?" "Let me patch her in." Liara said. There was silence then Liara's voice came through again, "Shepard what do you have Ty's on the line by the way." "I'm not really sure there's a few races on here but none seem to be the Observer." Shepard said. Ty scanned the information again and said "Or female." "What do you mean?" Liara asked. "Ty you're onto something, we need to mark this day down. Liara the observer is a female and these people are all males who gave you this information." Shepard said and Ty knew she had a smirk on her face because he did to. She was quick witted he gave her that much.

Ty missed the first part of what Liara said as he shut his Omni-tool down but he heard the last bit, "Nyxeris gave me the information…Nyxeris could I see you for a moment, I'll talk to you later Shepard, thanks for the help again Ty." "Don't mention it." Ty said. Liara's side went dead as Ty walked along a balcony towards a tattoo shop, "Ty you heading back to the Normandy soon?" Shepard asked. "No I paid back Aria but I still have to meet with my family one last time so I can say goodbye until we're done with the Collectors." Ty said. "Alright, hey Grunt didn't you want to say something to Ty?" Shepard asked her voice more distant.

Ty got to the door but waited outside of the tattoo shop as Grunt's deep Krogan voice came through, "Ty seeing the carnage you created was glorious but it got me thinking; if you can do all that I need to see what you can do against a Krogan." _Heh heh he's funny I thought he was serious but… oh shit he is being serious isn't he,_ Ty thought. "Um don't take this offensively Grunt but I don't want to fight you, it'd be a good fight probably a long grueling good fight but I don't want to cause problems on the Normandy between the crew." Ty said trying to avoid the fight. "Hmm I see your point human but we need to find out who's tougher between the two of us otherwise I may have to kill you." Grunt said. _Damn this is just like Kar he wanted to do the same thing, oi my head is gonna hurt if he agrees to this idea_, Ty thought. "How about a head-butting contest, if you win you can say you're the strongest most powerful squad mate Shepard has and you don't kill me, and if I win you don't kill me." "You're on human we'll have it right when you get onto the Normandy and if you don't show up I'll come find you and tear your spine out of you." Grunt said. _Fuck me, _Ty thought. "Sounds like uh…fun, I guess, see you then Grunt." Ty said.

Ty could hear muffled laughter from Shepard until she said while laughing "I'll make sure Chakwas is prepared when you get on the Normandy." Ty rolled his eyes and said sarcastically "Thanks Shepard, I gotta take care of something so I'll see you all later." "See ya Ty." Shepard said as she ended the call. Ty walked through the door to the shop and as he did he thought, _Kar was a normal Krogan and he knocked me out when we did it and Grunts the almighty genetically built super Krogan….shit I got some stupid ideas._

**A/N: Thanks to all those who have read this thus far and to all the new comers that read this it means a lot to this nerd. Two quick side notes first off the small sentence that was in Spanish I don't know if that is actually how it is said I used google translate so if you do know Spanish and I happen to be wrong, my bad. Last side note, when Ty and Aria are together and there is the paragraph talking about her running her hands through his hair and he is talking about the Asari fascination with that, I don't know if that is true or if there is any mention of it I just kinda figured they would. And Ty enjoying how it feels to have her hands running through his hair is actually something that I enjoy, I don't know if all people with long hair men or female like that but I personally have always enjoyed someone playing with my hair ever since I grew it out to the long length it is now so I had that reflect on Ty since I get shivers every time someone does what Aria was doing. Anyway enough about me and my weirdness if you have any questions, concerns, comments, or statements about the story let me know I'll do my best to explain anything that you are confused about and if you aren't confused and you just want to tell me you enjoy the story or if you have some constructive criticism I'm all for it as long as it isn't really rude. I will see you next time.**


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Shore Leave

**A/N/Disclaimer: As usual I don't own nothin' from the Mass Effect Universe that glory belongs to Bioware/E/A. I do stake claim to the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe. Onwards!**

Ty believed that if you were going to get a tattoo it had to have some meaning behind it other than because it looked cool. A tattoo stayed on for life except if you got it removed and if you were going to get something that you were going to keep forever it needed to have some meaning so when Ty found himself in a tattoo chair again explaining to the Asari woman what he wanted done he made sure that it was going to be a meaningful tattoo that would show his code and the people he cared about through symbols or something that they had. He missed his old sleeve tattoo but the tattoo had little meaning to him and was going to be replaced by something that would have meaning to him. The Asari traced out a stencil of the tattoo and thankfully she was versatile in human designs and had a very creative mind since she made his idea look much cooler than he imagined it, it was a sleeve tattoo again but instead of doing the same Japanese art he had he choose Samoan designs that would go from his shoulder to his hand on every inch of space he had but that was just the base background he was going to have.

The Asari pulled up all her equipment and chair and sat down next to Ty and then began tattooing his arm, the Samoan designs would go down first but throughout the designs she was leaving open spaces to fit the animals and symbols that he was using to represent everything. Ty let his mind wander as the Asari tattoo his arm and as his mind wandered he thought about the symbols that were going into the tattoo, the first was an Eagle flying on the outside of his bicep near the top and he chose it to represent his brother and the freeness that his brother had.

Above it on his shoulder he had described to the Asari what a scarred Turian mandible looked like and she drew a very real iteration of the scarred side Garrus's face tattooed with Garrus "Archangel" Vakarian carved into a Viper rifle below the scarred mandible. Below both of those tattoos right at his elbow he had a medium size fleur de lis which was a symbol of purity but inside of the left "leaf" was the name Haley and in the right "leaf" was the name Jessica. The main reason behind it was to represent Haley and Jessica since they were still pure and innocent for the most part. Between the fleur de lis and the eagle he had a smaller version of Tali's visor with the front of it facing out and Tali'Zorah vas Nemma nar Ryya engraved along the side of the mask. On the opposite side of his bicep in the middle was a lion head to resemble courage and bravery for a reminder to never back down, it was something that reminded him of his father and grandfather before him but mostly his dad. It was one of the Rhoddy rules he implanted in them, never back down, never give up.

On the top part of his forearm between designs was a nine sided star that looked exactly like the pendent around his neck now with the name Ka'Reena in the center of it. The rest of the top part of his forearm to his wrist was a tattoo of a tattoo that he had come accustomed to seeing now. It took a little while for the Asari to get it exactly how it looked because of how much Ty had to describe but in the end they got it exactly right, the remainder of his forearm on top was Jacks back tattoo from the top of her shoulders to her waist but smaller so it fit his arm and still flowed with everything and with her name in cursive inside the Omega symbol.

On the bottom part of his forearm but at the elbow he had Normandy SR-2 tattooed with Joker and EDI tattooed right below it, at the mid point of the back side of his forearm he had a claymore shotgun horizontally with the name Grunt below it since Grunts head was to huge to put on his arm. Below that at his wrist the Samoan designs separated a little to show one Japanese symbol and his old crew's symbol. The tomahawk and sniper in the X formation was something that his crew had gotten after getting rid of the Blue Suns symbol but Ty had never gotten it because he never found the time to do it and didn't want to give Tarak any heads up to him leaving. He owed it to his crew and Darian now to get it on him since Darian still had the tattoo. The Japanese symbol translated was the symbol of lust and that was to represent Aria and the reason, well it was self explanatory.

The last tattoos were on the back of his hand and palm; on his palm he got a left hand that was facing palm up so the thumb was on the left. The hand went from the bottom of his wrist to right below where his fingers were, in-between the thumb and index finger on the tattoo a line came down and went down into the center then began a going up in a counterclockwise way and going all the way around making a circle but then going back around until it reached the center of the palm coming back around without touching any other part of the tattoo. It was a Native American symbol for healing hands something he hoped he would get but it was also a symbol for the three doctors on board and all the help they had given him.

On the back of his hand the Samoan design started after the reimage of Jacks ended and they went to the sides of his hands across his thumb and pinky and went across his other knuckles and onto his last three fingers leaving a circular space on his hand that now had a two medium sized dog tags both with a thick black outline and a silver base color, the badge on the right if he was holding it up to look at it had a dove flying towards a shining star symbolizing hope for a brighter future or a guiding star leading the dove to hope the other badge was empty for now since he didn't know what he was going to do yet and since they still had more crew members to get he figured he'd be back there or at another tattoo parlor to get more names or symbols for those members if they became friends. He decided to get the tattoos while he had worked on his back before joining his mind with Jack, he was apart of a new crew now and so far he liked working with them a lot and thought of them as friends so he felt the need to tattoo something to resemble them.

The tattooing process took some time but after the Asari finished Ty was happy to see that it ended up with great quality, Ty scanned his credits into the machine for the tattoo's and thanked the Asari before walking out. He was thankful for the cybernetics in his right arm since the only feeling he had from the tattoos was a slight tingling feeling in his arm but no real pain. As he walked to his bike he called his dad who picked up before the first ring ended, "You done playing slap and tickle?" Mr. Rhoddy asked. Ty chuckled and said "Yea been done for a while now but I had to run an errand first, you guys up and going?" "Yea Darian took Haley and Jessica to the bar already but I wanted to talk to you and Z first in private." Mr. Rhoddy said. "About egg?" Ty asked.

Their dad was usually a very calm person and had never snapped at his sons about anything but to Ty's surprise his dad snapped back and said "Don't call her that anymore I'm done hiding the truth about her. She was more than what you two know." Ty was shocked at his dad snapping so he said "Okay sorry, where you want to meet?" "By that star charts place on Nos Astra we'll be waiting for you." Mr. Rhoddy said. Ty got to his bike and said "Be there soon, love you." "Love you bye." Mr. Rhoddy said than ended the call.

Ty got on his bike and traveled back to the usual area on Nos Astra but he landed his space bike at the star charts areas port to find his dad and brother waiting for him standing near the edge of the port while they talked. Ty got off his bike and his mask came off as he walked over to them and gave them both hugs, he took his hood off and his brother said "Nice tattoo, bet that has to sting like hell right now." Ty shook his head and said "No though it would if it weren't for the fact I have cybernetics in that arm now, you guys are in it as symbols." "Let me guess I'm the dove because of my beauty." Z said sarcastically while doing a girly stance.

Ty rolled his eyes and said "No the eagle, though I thought about making you something girly, daddy you're the lion head, Arias this symbol and the others I'll explain when we get to the other three." Ty said showing each symbol. Mr. Rhoddy nodded and said "So you two ready for the truth." _Not really, _Ty thought but he nodded and said "Alright so what exactly happened to her?" Mr. Rhoddy took a deep breath and said "Your mother was a Drell, a beautiful Drell. We met in 2150 way before Franklin was murdered and she traveled with me on some adventures knowing exactly who I was and who my father was. She was trained by Hanar to be an assassin and a damned good one and we went along for years on adventures until she wanted to have children…we were going to adopt no matter what but we found a man who would make her wish come true, to be able to have human children with Drell qualities."

Thirty Minutes Later

Ty was staring out into oblivion as his dad finished the story not knowing what to think or what to say, he always thought his mother was a bitch who abandoned her children not a nurturing mother like his dad just explained to him. Broken memories of his childhood started to piece themselves together but the only real full memory that he could recall her completely in was the sunset on Earth but he still didn't know if he was happy_. I spent my life hating this woman and now I learn she wasn't at all what I thought she was, fuck this is hard to take in_, Ty thought. Ty finally found some words to say after a few minutes of silence passed, "I'm sorry daddy she must've been incredible." "She was but I'm the one who is sorry for allowing the trauma that happened to make you forget who your mother really was, I should have told the two of you years ago but with everything that happened in the last eight years prevented me from being able to tell you. Your mother, like me, would've been so proud of you two for what you have become as individual people." Mr. Rhoddy said. "And my purple eyes?" Ty asked avoiding what his dad had just said. "Part of the experiment, she gave Z his bright green and gave you purple." Mr. Rhoddy said.

Ty nodded still staring into a void, "I can see her." Z said finally. "Me too, I remember her like I had known who she was all along." Ty said. "I know it's a lot to take in but you two deserved to know who your mother truly was." Mr. Rhoddy said. "I don't know what's worse thinking all my life she never gave a damn about us or learning she did actually care and my hatred was at someone who was genuine." Z said. "Do you believe that daddy?" Ty asked. "What?" Mr. Rhoddy asked.

Ty sighed knowing he had to ask or it would haunt him, "That she would've been proud of us, look at us and what we do." Mr. Rhoddy allowed a smirk to get on his face as he said "Trying to save the galaxy and being a loving brother, I don't know any parent who wouldn't be proud." Ty nodded holding back his emotions trying not to tear up, it wasn't working very well but he had it controlled for the most part, "Its gonna take some time to get used to, come on lets head to the bar for one last hoorah until I get back so I can get my mind off this for a little while." Ty said. Mr. Rhoddy nodded and said "Okay."

Before they walked away Ty pulled up his Omni-tool and said "EDI could you take control of my bike and bring it back to the Normandy without destroying it." "Yes Ty, would you like me to drive it slow to make sure I don't crash it?" EDI asked. There was a bit of humor in her tone which made Ty smile, "I trust you EDI drive however you please." Ty said. EDI was silent for a second than she said "Yes Ty, and thank you." "No problem EDI." Ty said than she disappeared and he shut his Omni-tool down.

As they walked across Illium to the Eternity bar Ty was having a hard time gripping that his mother was actually a good person. _Z was right I don't know what's worse hating her 'cause I thought she abandoned us or knowing she actually cared and died defending us. I can see her now she took us to Earth with Daddy but its hard to go from hating who I thought she was to accepting the truth, its like a late stage of denial thinking that she couldn't possibly be a bitch when I just spent the last decade for sure seeing this woman just pack her shit up and leave without saying goodbye because she found a better man. It's like there were two women my real mother who was a bitch and this new one who's loving and I'm afraid to let down my barriers 'cause I don't want to be hurt by a motherly figure again._

They got into the bar as Ty finished bantering with himself in his head and Jessica, Haley and Darian were sitting in a booth all laughing having a good time. All three walked over to Darian and the girls and sat down, Jessica was in the middle with Darian on her left and Haley on her right. Ty sat next to Haley and Z sat next to Darian and Mr. Rhoddy sat next to Z, "Sooo how was your night?" Haley asked as she gave him a mischievous smile. "Eventful I'm sure." Darian said sarcastically before Ty responded. Ty just smiled and said "I'm sure Jessica and Haley could assure you that any night spent with me is more than eventful." "True we could…but we won't." Jessica said with a laugh. They all laughed and Ty said "Thanks girls it means a lot."

Haley scooted closer to Ty and leaned her head onto his arm, Ty wrapped his arm around her and let her rest her head on his chest and shoulder as he looked down at her, she had her necklace on along with different clothes than she had on when Scrum had her. She wore a fuchsia low cut shirt that showed her mid drift and the tattoo she had of a red sun that out lined her belly button, she had on a similar black skirt that Jessica wore and then a pair black shoes that went up her ankle a few inches.

She looked great but still bruised with healing cuts from being captured, Ty looked up to Darian seeing the tomahawk and sniper in an X on his neck still which brought a smile to Ty's face but then asked "So Darian what you been up to since we last talked?" Darian shrugged and said "Well aside from explaining to C-Sec that I had nothing to do with the armed soldiers of a mysterious origin that chased a hooded man out of the bar." That got a laugh out of Ty because of the tone Darian used; it was so innocent and so easy to buy if you didn't know Darian's bullshit tone. "I met a nice girl." Darian said with a shrug. "'Bout time I was starting think you had an alternative way of thinking." Z said with a laugh. Darian just shook his head and said "Nah not my thing I'll leave that to you and your girlish figure." Z slapped Darian lightly and used his most flamboyant tone as he said "Damn it Darian you're making me blush stop it you know I don't swing that way."

Everyone looked each other momentarily but then they all busted out with laughter at his impression, as the laughing died down Ty looked at his brother with a smile as he said "I think that was your best you've ever done." Z bowed his head slightly and said "Thank you." "So who's the Turian lover Darian?" Ty asked. "Me." Jessica said with a smile. At first Ty thought she was joking until he saw the seriousness she had in her expression, "You…wai...s…What?" Ty asked now completely shocked. "I'm a lady killer what can I say." Darian said leaning back putting his hands against the back of head.

Ty was in a bit of shock but hearing Z sneeze brought him out of his shocked state, the sneeze was followed by Z coughing while he said "I'm sorry I'm allergic to bullshit…ehem, ehem." Ty smirked as he looked over at Darian and said "Darian I know you're a klutz when it comes to talking to women, so how did this all happen?" Ty asked. "Well it took some of my Turian magic but she fell hard for me." Darian said still exuding confidence. Ty, Z and Mr. Rhoddy all stared at him for more than ten seconds before they said in unison "Rrrriiigghhtt." Darian leaned forward back towards the table and said "Okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little." They still all stared at him with a we know your lying look until Darian finally threw his hands up and said "Okay I'm exaggerating a lot but hey it almost worked." "Uh huh." All three said in unison smiles spreading onto everyone's face. "Don't be so hard on him he's actually kinda charming and cute when he's stumbling over himself trying to say the right things." Jessica said with a smile. "So you two shagged?" Z asked with a smirk.

Darian started clearing his throat and looking around which Ty figured as the Turian equivalent to a blush while Jessica turned a deep, deep red. Z didn't miss the moment, "YOU DID DIDN'T YOU!" Z yelled pointing his finger at Darian. Darian looked for a way out and then caught all the new tattoo's Ty had and said "Anyway how about that new tattoo Ty." "Aw you two are embarrassed it's so cute. So did you Jessie?" Haley asked with a smile. "I'll tell you in private later but you better not tell anyone." Jessica said. Haley put her hand up and said "Sisters honor." There was an awkward silence or what Ty assumed was an awkward silence for Darian and Jessica so he said "So about this tattoo Darian it took some time but I finally got the tattoo."

Ty put his arm on the table showing him them the tattoo then he continued "I was going to make you the bird but I figur-" The look Darian had would've incinerated Ty if looks could kill, Darian hated being referred to as a bird, Darian interrupted him and said "Stop right there unless you want my Turian boot smashing your face in." Ty smirked and said "But I figured you wouldn't want that, Haley, Jess you two are the fleur de lis which is for purity." He flipped his arm around showing them the fleur de lis, Jessica examined the tattoo and asked "Who are all the names like the Turian on your shoulder, the Jack name in that colorful part and all the other names?" "The crew members I have become friends with on the Normandy." Ty answered. "What about the blank badge and the dove?" Haley asked. "No one yet I just like the meaning behind it the empty badge I don't know what to do so I'm going to wait, this one is Native American for healing hands." Ty said. "Finally something you can use." Darian said sarcastically. "Ha ha ha." Ty said slowly faking irratance.

Two Hours Later

Laughing had ensued at the table over the two hours all of them just reminiscing on good times, they had gotten so loud that Aethyta, who was a friend of Mr. Rhoddy and by extension was friends with Ty and Z, had to ask them to quiet down slightly despite her enjoying their presence and wanting to kick out the annoying bastards who wanted them to quiet down. It was really enjoyable just sitting and talking with them all, Ty missed just being around them because of how much fun they always had but if on queue his left wrist lit up with his omni-tool flaring to life and EDI's little blue chess piece coming up in the center of his hand, "Ty I do not wish to interrupt but Shepard has returned and wants a report on what you're doing and when you'll be back." "Is there any way you can get her to pop up like you do on my omni-tool so I can tell her directly?" Ty asked. "That would require for her to be using a vid comm or be a slightly unshack-"

Ty interrupted EDI not wanting her to finish that in the presence of the people of the bar that were not among his friends, unshackled A.I.s scared people despite EDI only being slightly unshackled A.I. and the nicest of them all so far, "Ah ah ah, a simple no would suffice, tell her that I'll be there soon I just gotta say goodbye to everyone now." "Would you like me to tell her an estimated time for your arrival?" EDI asked. Ty sighed and thought, _I wish I had more time with them but duty calls I guess, I'll just stay in touch with them as much as I can._ "Um I dunno depends on how emotional the goodbyes get, tell her that I said to have patience and for her to sit her Alliance ass down and take a breather while she waits for me she's gonna work herself to death and tell Miranda to calm her Cerberus ass down and be patient it wont kill her to relax and smile a little." Ty said. "I will relay your message to them." EDI said. "Thanks EDI." Ty said.

Ty shut his Omni-tool down and saw the sadness and irritation on everyone's face, the irritation was mostly on his dad and brothers faces, Ty picked up a glass and raised it up than said "Here's to having you guys here with me, thank you all for being there for me always and showing the meaning of having a great, dysfunctional fucked up loving family. I love you all." Everyone raised the glasses in front of them and clinked them together and Haley said "Thank you all for coming to find me." Everyone nodded and Ty stood up and asked "You guys wanna walk with me to the Normandy?" They all nodded in silence and Ty said "I should get back before Miranda comes out here looking with Grunt, come on."

They all exited the booth and walked as a group making a little small talk along the way mostly trying to get their minds off their inevitable destination. As quickly as the journey to find Haley started it was now ending abruptly and it didn't look like anyone was happy about it especially since the spent the last two hours joking and laughing with each other like the big family they had become. They arrived at the Normandy and Ty turned around and said "And here we are which means its time for my departure." Haley was the first to cling onto Ty though she wasn't crying yet, "I'll miss you Haley but I'll try staying in contact as often as I can so stay strong for me." Ty said rubbing her back. Haley looked up and said "This is twice I've had to say goodbye to you." "Yea let's hope we do better with our next reunion so it's something normal not you kidnapped." Ty joked. Haley smiled and two tears found their way out of her eyes so Ty wiped them away and said "Save these for when they are truly needed not on me taking a vacation to hell." Haley forced a laugh and smiled through her tears than said "Please come back unharmed Ty don't make this the final memory I have of you." Ty smiled and grabbed the pendent of her necklace and showed her the back of it and said "It won't be trust me." Haley nodded and put her head against his chest and said "I love you Ty." "Love you to Haley." Ty said.

Haley let go and stood next to Z who wrapped his arm around her and held her close, Jessica came next giving Ty a big hug but still holding back her tears so Ty hugged her back and said "And you look after your older sister till I get back so she doesn't get into to much trouble alright." Jessica nodded and said "I will, thank you for everything Ty, I know we haven't spent much time together but you've been a great friend to me and my sister and I won't ever forget that. I'd say you were the most amazing guy I ever was with but now that I met Darian it I can't say that, no offense." Ty chuckled and said "None taken, don't have any hybrid babies while I'm gone and if I don't comeback, which is highly unlikely but if I don't you live the rest of your life with him without regrets or sadness okay."

That did it for Jessica she started crying but not hysterically thankfully, "Will you do what I said Jess if worse comes to worse?" Ty asked. "Yes but don't you dare not come back Ty there's to many of us who care for you here for you to just leave us." Jessica said. "I'll come back don't worry just a contingency plan for you if I don't." Ty said. Jessica nodded and said "You be safe Ty and don't die." Ty let her go over to Haley since Darian walked up to him, "Ty you've been my friend since you joined the Suns, I've followed your orders and listened to you as best I could learning how to live my life like you did back then without regrets but this time you listen to me. You comeback from this little quest to hell and back and you make sure you are unharmed, you've got to many people here that care about you to see you throw your life away on some suicide mission that you joined to solve some of your inner conflicts. You've been a great friend and a great mentor but you still have this dysfunctional family that cares about you." Darian said than he pointed behind him at the group.

He then pointed at the Normandy and said "I know you well enough to know that those people on that ship are your friends and you look after them like you did our squad and I know there are people on that ship that care about you as well so do us all a favor and see this mission through and continue being the sarcastic, caring, gun toting psycho that you are understand." Ty nodded and Darian said "Good and one last thing make sure you kill those Collector bastards." Ty and Darian gave each other a bro hug and Ty said "I will and make sure you keep your eyes on Jessica, shouldn't be too hard for you." "That's easy." Darian said walking back to Jessica and wrapping his arm around her.

Next up was his brother who Ty could tell wasn't to happy to be staying behind, "Z you've been a role model for me since I was a kid, I remember always looking up to you and wanting to be just like you and wanting to be at your side for every adventure we took not wanting to accept there was some we had to do separately but this time its my turn to go off on my own into hell to make sure everything turns out okay." His brother nodded and said "I know, I don't like seeing you go off on your own to a hard fight but I know that its something I can't partake in, I gotta get Darian's ass out of retirement since he's gotten a little fat and train our two green friends." "Hey!" Darian, Jessica and Haley yelled in unison. "Just saying." Z said.

His brother sighed and said "Ty you've gone through a lot in these past years and I can assure you its hurt to have seen you shatter at the hands of the Suns more than you know but it would be nothing compared to if I lose you to this mission. There can't be an RBZ with just me; the Rhoddy Boyz will always be us so you make sure you come back from this mission." Ty hugged his brother and said "You're the best brother anyone could ever dream of, you're a great person and I will always look up to you and be with you." Ty swear he could feel his brother holding back his emotions but he also knew he himself was holding back emotions as Z said "You're an even better brother and person, take good care of yourself Ty." "I will Z, take care of Haley, Jess and Darian for me." Ty said. "I will." Z said. "Love you Z." Ty said. "Love you Ty." Z said. They let go of each other and Ty said "RBZ 4 Life." Z smirked and said "Family Forever." They fist bumped each other and Z walked back into the group, Mr. Rhoddy walked up and said "Everyone else has already told you to look after yourself so I'll skip that part and tell you this, look after the crew, you are all counting on each other and need to look after one another like you used to with your squad. The Collectors are already dead but you need to make sure you put them down completely and not let Cerberus dictate how the mission goes."

Ty nodded understanding where his dad was coming from with Cerberus, if Cerberus had their way Ty was sure they would try to brainwash the Collectors to work for them and kidnap alien races. Mr. Rhoddy continued "I know what this mission and those guys on the ship mean to you, I can see you coming out of the hell you have been going through the last eight years but I know you are still guarding your heart with a unbreakable fortress and as I have told you no one can tell you when you are done mourning just remember the other half of what I said. It's a choice not to find love again after losing someone you loved." Ty nodded again and Mr. Rhoddy finished by saying "You've come a long way from being a merc and I have given you as much guidance as I could, I know that this life isn't a normal life but I just want you to know that even though I wished for something different for you two that you have both made me the proudest father in this universe. I love you buddy take good care of yourself and everyone and comeback in one piece."

Ty let tears escape but he kept himself composed and said "I will daddy; take good care of the others make sure they don't get into trouble." Ty hugged his father and his dad said "I love you buddy." "I love you to." Ty said in a choked up voice. Tears were rolling down his face as Ty hugged his dad and they held each other a little longer until they let go and his dad said "Here's something to keep in your room while you are away, don't open it until you get in your room though." Mr. Rhoddy handed him a tiny wrapped square shape and Ty nodded still having tears run down his cheeks, Mr. Rhoddy put his hand on Ty's shoulder and said "Go on we'll be waiting for you to get back."

Ty nodded and looked at everyone and said "Love you all." They all nodded and everyone including his brother and Darian had either tears running down their faces with smiles or crying completely. Ty turned around and started walking to the Normandy's air lock tears running more and more down his face, he got to the door and looked to his family, no friends all family and forced a smile seeing them stand together waving to him. He waved back and quietly said "Love you guys, take good care of one another while I'm gone and if the worst happens I'll always be with you." He put his hood up and took a step into the airlock losing sight of everyone and hoping it wasn't the last time, he got decontaminated and the doors to the bridge opened where he was soon greeted by Jokers sarcasm, "Hey enjoy the shore leave 'cause you know there's a galaxy needing saved." Ty wished he could have responded with a joke but he walked by and said in a strained voice "Joker…please not right now."

**A/N: Forgot to say in the last chapter that the outfit Aria was wearing I based off of a comic drawing that I think is from Mass Effect Invasion if there were comic drawings in that, I had to look up something on Aria and found myself on a wikia page and when I scrolled down looking for the information I saw the picture under the Mass Effect Invasion area so I decided that would be her outfit for their meeting. Now that Ty is back on track it is time for some one on one with the resident Krogan, oh it's going to be fun…for me as a bystander at least I doubt a head butting contest with a Krogan would be much fun at all except for the Krogan. All the symbols mentioned in this are real things, the hands of healing I think is probably the only one that I really need to say that for at least but if you are unsure exactly how it looks feel free to look it up they have pictures of the symbol. Last thing I'd like to say is thanks once again to all of you reading.**


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Knock Out

Ty continued to walk up the deck hearing Joker and EDI talking "Did I say something wrong?" "No Mr. Moreau he's experiencing extreme sadness due to having to say goodbye to his family." EDI said. Ty walked down the stairs no longer able to hear them, he got around the galaxy map and as he passed Kelly she asked "Are you alright Ty?" Ty got to the elevator and opened the doors, "I just said goodbye to my family Kelly and learned some things about my mother, I'm going to need a while to answer that honestly." Ty said in his strained voice. Ty walked in the elevator looking down at the ground trying to avoid eye contact with everyone so no one saw his tears as he hit the button for the crew quarters, the elevator descended as he looked at the wrapped gift. He figured it was a picture judging on the shape that looked like a frame, the doors opened and he walked immediately to his room and shut the door behind him as he got in.

Ty took all his gear off and put it on his table in his usual order than he took his hood off and sat down on the side of his bed next to his dresser and unwrapped the gift, he saw the corner of a frame as he took apart the paper until he took it all off completely and saw a recent but doctored picture that made tears continue to flow down Ty's face. The picture had his dad and his brother with an arm around each others shoulder than Darian with Jessica on his lap and Haley next to them on the couch at the apartment each smiling but what was doctored was Ty sitting in front of them with his arms around the waist of a woman while she sat between his stretched out legs, the woman was none other than his lost love Ka'Reena without her mask on.

It was an older picture of the two though Ty looked like he did now just a different sleeve tattoo, the original picture was the same just without Haley or Jess in it, Ka'Reena had taken stimulants and immune system bolsters so she could take the picture without her mask but she still had a cold because of it. You could tell in the picture that his dad had said something to make everyone have a real smile on for both parts of the picture. Ka'Reena had such beautiful features and such a pretty smile, her raven black hair was long and draped over her shoulders and she had stunning eyes and markings on her chest.

As tears streamed down his face he felt paper and something round on the back of the frame so he looked behind it and saw a note taped to the back of it with a circular holo projector, he took it off and set the frame down on his nightstand and began to read the note. _Dear Ty, I knew there was nothing that we could ever say to stop you from going on your revenge mission that started what seems like a lifetime ago and we stood by you through the whole thing but we hoped after it was over you'd start to live life again. Ka'Reena had told me once that when she started her pilgrimage she never imagined that the thing of value she was going to find was you. I found this holo after she was killed and I figured it would do more harm than good back then so I kept it safely hidden until I thought the time was right which I think is now, I hope this does more good than harm, be safe Love Z._

Ty hit the button and Ka'Reena popped up without her mask on and started talking "Ty if you have found this than I am probably dead because of my pilgrimage or because the Suns came for me. Please if it's the second do not blame yourself for it you Bosh'tet you gave me probably the best two years of my life that I would ever live." Ty forced a laugh at her calling him a Bosh'tet it was her favorite thing to call him then she continued "I know life without me is going to be hard for you with what you have already lost but know I will always be watching over you and making sure you are okay. Tell Tali to be safe and that I loved her like a sister, she was a great friend. Until we see each other again I want you to always feel my love and take my soul into yours and continue to live your life. Don't mourn me forever and try to find love again and be sure to love that person like you did me it'll make that person very lucky."

Ty had gotten control of his crying when he was reading the letter but he felt it coming back seeing her and hearing her say this, "I love you Ty forever and always, I will be as free as dust in the solar wind until you find me in the next life. Goodbye my Bosh'tet bond mate, keelah 'se lai." The holo ended and tears started going down his face again and they burned, "I love you to Ka'Reena, I wish I could've saved you and you could've returned to your people a proud Quarian not dead because of the Suns." Ty said to himself.

Ty put the holo down next to the picture and stood up and walked over to EDIs terminal and asked "EDI you there?" "Yes Ty, are you alright?" EDI asked. "Is Grunt busy?" Ty asked avoiding the question. "He's pacing back in forth in his quarters as usual." EDI said. "Tell him to get ready for a head-butting contest." Ty said. "Are you sure you should do that right now?" EDI asked. Ty just walked away and said "No but I'm going to anyways." "I will inform them you are on your way." EDI said.

Ty put his hood up and walked to the elevator and got in, he hit the button for the Engineering deck and let the doors shut as he leaned back against the wall behind him as he waited for the doors to open and let him out. The idea that he had was a stupid one but he hadn't been known for smart ideas for a while now, the head-butting contest would surely render him unconscious and then he would be able to escape from the memories that were haunting him now. His vision remained normal but he could mentally see different times he and Ka'Reena had been together, seeing her in her dark blue and black suit with her blue mask on as they fought off the mercenaries that were attempting to attack her when they first met. Not the nicest way to meet someone but Ty had found her in the streets of Omega being chased by the mercenaries who were calling her an abundance of slang terms but the most memorable and the only one that Ty understood was suit rat.

If someone would have told him that they would go from him saving her to the relationship they had he would have called them crazy idiots but as his dad said love blossoms in the strangest places. Many other memories flooded Ty's mind, all were pleasant memories but seeing the memories again did nothing to sooth his aching heart. Ty wiped the tears from his eyes as the doors opened and he walked to Grunts quarters where his release from the pain was going to be,_ it only took Kar around fifty head-butts to knock me out but then again I lost count because of how bade my head hurt so maybe Grunt will do it quicker, _Ty thought. The doors opened to Grunt's quarters and as EDI said he was pacing back and forth, "You ready to find out who's strongest Grunt?" Ty asked hiding his emotions. Grunt smirked and said "Good you came I've been waiting for this." Grunt sniffed the air and asked "Have you been crying human?"

Ty's response, though probably not smart, was head-butting Grunt hard. It hurt Ty's head but Grunt reeled back than smirked and said "Not bad Ty." Grunt took a step forward then slammed his head hard into Ty's knocking him back a few steps, Ty ignored the pain and said "Is that all you got." Grunt chuckled and said "Don't want to kill you yet." Ty smirked and got back to Grunt and slammed his head into Grunts face harder than before, Grunt reeled back again than cracked his neck and slammed Ty pretty hard again knocking him back more steps than before. Ty cracked his neck and said "Oh this is gonna be a long fight."

* * *

"You sure about this Mordin?" Shepard asked. The Salarian nodded sharply and said "Have run many tests and it is only possible scenario, will show you data." Shepard nodded slightly as she leaned forward against Mordin's table as he began typing away on his terminal. Shepard had been making her way around the Normandy talking to all of her crew while she waited for Ty to get back, Jacob seemed to have a clear mind after dealing with his father and Ty told her that he was going to be fine as well so that was some great news but she still had a lot of work to do for her crew and between the five new dossiers and finishing up Project Firewalker and handling Project Overlord. They still had to find a way to defeat the Collectors but Shepard wasn't allowing herself to worry about that, a solution would present itself and then they would bring them down.

During her rounds she had stopped by to talk to Mordin about potential shielding tech for Ty since he was without them and would likely continue to not use them unless she forced him to, her initial conversation with Mordin had proved to be successful but Mordin stopped her before she could leave and began to talk to her about his recent experiments that had to do with their resident purple eyed warrior. "This seems impossible Mordin along with being completely unethical." Shepard said with a shake of her head. "Unethical yes but not impossible, look at history of Cerberus experiments you have run into. All failed and unethical but still were goals that were not impossible for a time. All would end up failing but all within possible parameters." Mordin said. _Guess he has a point_, Shepard thought. Akuze had been one of Cerberus's experiments and despite how much she hated Cerberus for what they did to her squad Mordin was right about the experiment they had run, they were all with possible goals though all would end up failing.

Despite all of that Shepard couldn't wrap her head around what he was telling her now, this wasn't a Cerberus experiment as far as they knew but if what Mordin was saying was true than they might have figured out part of the reason why Ty was able to read all the memories of his own and around him with perfect clarity. A blue hologram of a female human body popped up with its nervous system outlined, Shepard looked at the hologram then looked back at Mordin and asked "What am I looking at here Mordin?" "Normal human structure, more notably your nervous system." Mordin stated. "My nervous system?" Shepard asked. "Yes easier for you to understand this way." Mordin answered as he continued typing away on his terminal.

Shepard wasn't sure if she should feel insulted by him making it easier to understand but she figured the more scientific explanation wouldn't make sense to anyone but a doctor. Another hologram popped up but this time it was a male human hologram but instead of having the one green nervous system that Shepard's hologram it alternated between red, blue, yellow and green. _There's no way,_ Shepard thought. "He has four nervous systems?" Shepard asked. "Yes." Mordin said with a nod. "But why are the colors only showing up on his one system? Is it like a power conduit running off of four separate generators?" Shepard asked. To Shepard's surprise Mordin smiled and pointed at her as he said "Yes! Exactly! The green is his normal system but the red, yellow and blue are three separate systems all working alongside each other." "How is that possible?" Shepard asked. "A experiment though I doubt it is Cerberus work. I ran tests on his nervous system and the yellow system has similarities to Drell nervous systems."

Shepard nodded slightly, that made sense despite how outrageous it was. Ty had the memory of a Drell with some extra capabilities though Shepard wasn't sure that Mordin was right about it not being Cerberus. "Why do you rule out Cerberus Mordin, being able to do everything Ty can do would be a great quality for an undercover agent?" Shepard asked. "Understand your point but Cerberus would see using the abilities of other alien races as a weakness more than a strength no matter how useful the talent." That made sense but before Shepard and Mordin could continue their conversation the doors to the tech lab opened, Shepard and Mordin looked over to see Kelly standing in the doorway with a look of worry on her face. "Hey Kelly is everything okay?" Shepard asked.

The usual perky yeoman shook her head in response which worried Shepard; if Kelly was worried there was reason to be worried about something. "I'm worried about Ty." Kelly answered. "Worry understandable due to his recurring injuries." Mordin said with a smile. Shepard couldn't help but smile at Mordin's joke but Kelly shook her head again and said "It's more than that, when he got back on board the Normandy he wasn't entirely himself, I believe he was crying." Crying was never a good sign but Shepard knew if Ty was than something was definitely wrong, "Problematic." Mordin stated. "Yea, I'd like to hear more about your findings Mordin but I need to go see if everything is okay with Ty. Make sure you forward your findings to Miranda and Dr. Chakwas so they are kept in the loop about Ty's condition." Shepard said.

Mordin nodded and began to work again as Shepard walked to Kelly and out of the tech lab. Kelly stopped at her station and turned around back to Shepard, "Did he say anything to you?" Shepard asked. "I asked him if he was alright but he said that he just said goodbye to his family and learned something's about his mother so he would need time to answer it honestly. I talked to Joker as well and he said that he attempted to joke with him but Ty said "Joker please not right now." I worry about him, we haven't had the chance to speak to each other in depth but from what I understand he's had a rough time." "A rough eight years to be exact." Shepard said solemnly. Kelly shook her head and said "I feel so bad for him, he's gone through so much and he's still only twenty three. He didn't even get a chance at a normal life."

That summed up how Shepard felt as well on what happened to Ty, his words on Horizon still struck her hard, "All of the Alliance is just as bad as Cerberus; they both steal fucking childhoods and hide behind back room political bull-" Shepard was agitated at the situation on Horizon when she had snapped at him but thinking back on it now she couldn't blame him for his own agitation. Kaiden had compared him to Saren and berated him and his family despite not actually knowing them, he knew the propaganda but not the real person and that seemed to get under Ty's skin pretty fast.

Shepard couldn't help but wonder if that was how she was towards him at first, would she have said the same things if she wasn't recruiting him. Shepard shook the thought from her mind, "As bad as this sounds I'm happy he didn't grow up normal, if he had I would have never have met him on this mission and I would have always thought of him as the propaganda criminal everyone thinks he is. I just wish he hadn't gone through all the tragedies he went through, no one should have to go through what he did." "Maybe you should go down and talk to him, see if he is okay." Kelly said. Before Shepard could answer EDI's synthesized voice came over the intercom, "Shepard Ty is down with Grunt and they are in the midst of head-butting each other, Ty has sustained severe damage but continues to push on." EDI said. "Shit, how bad are the injuries EDI?" Shepard asked. "His face is covered in his own blood." EDI answered. "Oh my." Kelly whispered. "I'm on my way down right now EDI." Shepard said. "Yes Shepard." EDI said. "Good luck Shepard." Kelly called as Shepard got in the elevator. "Thanks Kelly." Shepard said_. I'm going to need it knowing those two,_ Shepard thought as the doors closed.

* * *

The taste and smell of blood had filled all of Ty's senses and all he could hear was the constant pounding of his head which sounded like a Krogan army marching through his head. The pair had been at it for nearly thirty minutes and had head-butted each other what seemed like over fifty times each but since each one was harder than before Ty could barely recall what he did the past few days. It might have been blood loss mixed with the huge migraine he had but he didn't stop and wouldn't stop until he was unconscious and so far all they had achieved was bursting open Ty's forehead getting blood to flow down his whole face and starting to cover his neck and Ty had began to bruise Grunts face. Grunt slammed his head into Ty's knocking Ty down again. With his energy kicking into overtime Ty kipped up again and head-butted Grunt, Grunt recovered and said "I'll give you credit human you got a quad. I thought you were going to be done after the first hit, this has been a good fight and you are worthy of your reputation."

Grunt slammed Ty hard making him see black dots but he stayed on his feet with some strange will keeping him going, he didn't have enough brain cells working to understand why but the ones working made him assume it was the hurt he had inside of leaving his family, the holo, and learning about his mother. Everything hurt, especially his head now but his heart was hurting the worse of it all and that's why he kept going because he wasn't going to stop until he was knocked unconscious. Ty head-butted Grunt hard again knocking him back a few feet when the hydraulic door opened behind him, Ty wasn't going to break his focus so Grunt could get a free shot at his temple. "Little busy." Ty said preparing for the next hit. "Stand down both of you before you get killed Ty." Shepard's voice came from behind him.

Her voice sounded like it was full of shock and worry but Ty could barely make out Grunt's body now, it was all becoming really blurry and dark in his vision. He wasn't sure if he was stumbling to keep himself up or if his vision was just becoming really shaky but he attempted to plant himself in a ready position for Grunt's next hit, "Not until he's knocked out or I am, come on Grunt hit me as hard as you can or are you gonna quit." Ty taunted. "Ty-" Shepard was interrupted by Grunt taking two quick and large steps forward before he head-butted Ty. The charging head-but made Ty fly back knocking Shepard and another body but both were definitely human judging on the skin contact he felt. The ceiling was even blurry as Ty stared at it but he coughed from having the air knocked out of him and taunted again "Is that all you got."

Ty stood up and attempted to walk back towards Grunt but ended up stumbling wearily towards him as he did, his whole body felt heavy and felt like it would collapse at any moment with his will still pushing him to keep going. "You are strong human." Grunt said. "Ones strength is measured by their will to continue fighting no matter what, or something like that." Ty said. Blood continued to flow from his forehead into his mouth and down his neck. "How do you still fight Ty?" Grunt asked huffing and puffing a little. "As someone great once told me I have a heart that pushes me to fight and a will to fight anything and anyone. Not to mention the stubbornness of a bull." Ty said than head-butted Grunt again.

Ty was on his last legs knowing the next hit was either gonna take him down or the one after that so he prepared himself for it, Grunt put his giant frame back in front of Ty and as Ty looked up to him he slammed his head hard into his face again. Black dots swarmed his vision but he fought the sensation to fold over and black out, "Ty, Grunt stop this is ridiculous you're gonna hurt yourself badly." Shepard said trying to step between them. "Come on Shepard this is getting good." Jack said. "It's not over yet." Ty said moving her to the side then head-butting Grunt.

Before Ty could prepare himself Grunt brought his head flying back at him and smashed him hard, Ty stumbled back and black swarmed his vision and the pain was too much, "Now it's over." Ty said. Before anyone else could say anything he fell down sideways and blacked out leaving Grunt the winner, _this was just like Kar,_ was Ty's last thought before he blacked out.

* * *

Shepard looked down at Ty's knocked out body_, damn it Ty why do you have to did you do this_, Shepard thought. _Did he call me someone great, I did say those things but maybe someone else did_ _too?_ Shepard stared down at Ty's unconscious form when Grunt brought her from her thoughts with his roar and his fists slamming together, "HA! I knew I was the strongest, we should do this more often." Grunt said. Shepard kind of smirked and said "Yea I don't think Ty's gonna be up for this again, Jack help me with him lets get him to the med-bay, Grunt you should let Chakwas check for anything that Ty could've done." "Yes Shepard." Grunt said walking to the elevator. Jack and Shepard picked Ty off the floor both holding a shoulder and Jack said "I swear the dick blacks out ever week and we always get stuck having to help his ass."

Shepard smirked hearing one of Jack's pet names for Ty, Jack had really began to consider Ty as a friend and she had began to call Ty by names such as dick or ass for his sarcastic personality. Shepard wasn't sure if Jack was entirely aware of the friendship forming between the two but it was nice to see someone like Jack branching out with the crew. "You enjoy it." Shepard said sarcastically. Jack let out a laugh and said "Haha, hell no this seems to get worse every time." "So you do care." Shepard said as they got to the elevator where Grunt was waiting. "Shut up Shepard he wouldn't last with me." Jack said with a smirk. "He seems to think of it the other way." Shepard countered. "Yea that's 'cause the ass doesn't know what he's talking about." Jack countered back.

Shepard hit the button and said "And you gave him pet names it sounds like you do care." Jack was silent for a few moments making Shepard hope she didn't just push the line but than Jack said "Give me a break Shepard he's been the closest thing to a friend I've ever had but I still have no interest in him." Shepard just smirked and waited as the elevator got to the crew quarters, the doors opened and Grunt went thumping out towards the med-bay as Jack and Shepard carried Ty carefully. They got through the doors and Chakwas was already looking over Grunt, "Grunt you've sustained a lot of bruising on your face but nothing appears to be broken, I'll give you a quick treatment but how on Earth did this happen?" Chakwas asked. "A great battle." Grunt said. "Uh doc Grunt isn't your only patient." Shepard said.

Chakwas turned around and saw Ty's bloodied and knocked out form and responded "Oh my, does he ever have a normal day. Sit him down on the usual bed I'll take a look at him after I'm done with Grunt." Shepard got to the bed with Jack and said "Lean him against the bed than we'll put his legs onto it." Before Shepard could respond Ty began to glow blue which made Shepard look at Jack, she used her biotics to lift Ty off their shoulders and laid him gently onto the bed "That's what biotics are for." Jack said with a smirk. Shepard nodded and said "Thanks Jack you can go if you want." "Hey what the hell is that?" Jack asked going to Ty's right arm. Shepard and Jack walked over to look at his right arm and examine the new tattoos, Garrus, Tali, Ka'Reena, Joker, EDI, Normandy, Grunt, a symbol in what looks like Japanese, a tomahawk and sniper in an X, two badges one empty the other with a dove flying to a star, a fleur de lis, an eagle and a lions head and…Jacks back tattoo. "What the fuck the dick has my name and tattoo on his arm along with some of the rest of the crew." Jack said in confusion.

Shepard stared at it for a few seconds and said "That is really strange but then again it is Ty after all, he has all his dead friends that were his crew members names tattooed on a cross on his back I think he tattoos things that have an impact on his life." "What the fuck Shepard why would he tattoo my name." Jack said still confused. Shepard motioned for Jack to follow her outside which she did and when they got out of the med-bay Shepard checked to make sure the coast was clear not wanting Miranda to see Jack in this freaked out state, the coast was clear but Jack started again as she said "Shepard this doesn't make sense to me why would he do that with my name, hell why would he tattoo those other names." "Jack, Ty's been fighting internally with himself for years now not trusting anyone or getting close to anyone because of his past, you were one of the first he started bonding with as a friend." Shepard said trying to be comforting. "Shepard 'friends' don't tattoo their names on one another, the fucking dick and me aren't even that close." Jack said.

Shepard gave her an are you serious look as she said "So "he's the closest thing I've had to a friend" wasn't true." Jack went to retort but began to struggle with what to say when she finally said, "Fuck." Jack looked nearly defeated as she looked down at her feet, Shepard put a hand on her shoulder and said "Jack you are honestly the closest thing he's had to a friend in a long time, yea he's started to expand his friendship to everyone he has to so far but you were the first he seemed to even consider a friend." Jack stayed quiet so Shepard took her hand off her shoulder and said "Face it Jack you've both become friends whether you admit or not. He considers you a friend enough to tattoo your name and tattoo on his arm and that's a serious thing to him." "Shit alright alright I get it." Jack said. Shepard smirked and said "Not to push the boundaries of your emotions but I consider you a friend as well." "Shepard I know but your really pushing the boundaries of that friendship right now with your emotions and comforting." Jack said.

Shepard continued smiling and Jack said "And wipe that stupid ass smile off your face you're making me even more uncomfortable." "You gonna head back down?" Shepard asked. "Yeah and tell the dick when he wakes up to stop getting himself injured or I'll start kicking his ass." Jack said as she walked out. Shepard rolled her eyes with a smile and walked back into the med lab and over to Grunt as Chakwas was attending to his face and asked "You alright Grunt?"

Grunt smirked and said "I feel great Shepard, that human gave me a great fight I didn't think he had it in him. He's got a quad that's for sure but I'm still stronger than him, I have a respect for him now and can't wait to see how he is when we push the Collectors to the void and step on their fingers one by one." Shepard nodded and said "Good to hear, do me a favor and try not to do something like this with him again he's already had a bunch of injures since he's gotten on board we don't need to keep accumulating them for his sake." "Fine but if he becomes stronger I want to make sure he knows I'm still the strongest."

Shepard nodded but thought, _I don't think he's crazy enough to do something like this twice, or at least I hope not for his own sake_. "I'm going to go see what Garrus is up to I'll check in on Ty later doc." Chakwas nodded and Grunt bowed his head a little and said "Shepard." Shepard stole one more glimpse at Ty as she walked by and could see red around his eyes and thought_, Kelly was right he had been crying._ Shepard walked out and towards the battery, _I hope he'll be alright I need his head on straight for this mission, hopefully his head can stay on straight after that little contest he and Grunt had._

Shepard got to the battery and Garrus turned around and said "Shepard, you need something?" "Chambers said you wanted to talk, oh by the way Ty's in the med-bay again after having a head-butting contest with Grunt." Shepard said. "Oh wow, who won?" Garrus asked. "Grunt but Ty did a lot of damage I'm sure Jokers watching it right now laughing his ass off, you should ask EDI about it she probably recorded it." Shepard said. Garrus nodded and said "I will, he's one crazy bastard isn't he. He risks his life for his friends and family and does things like this without second thought; he's not what I expected from the legend of his family."

Shepard nodded in agreement, he had proven to them all that everything negative ever said about him was not true, she liked the man he actually was not what everyone said about him. "You and me both he's surprised me a lot since he joined us." "He would've been helpful with Saren even though we handled that without him, things like getting us off lockdown and on Therum in that ridge where we could barely go anywhere because of the Geth snipers." Garrus said. "True but he has integrated himself into our crazy crew after Omega." Shepard said. Garrus nodded and said "Yea he has, you think he'll stick with us when the Reapers get here?" Garrus asked. Shepard wasn't sure, Ty had promised when they first met that he would stay on board until the mission was over and then he would cut loose but he had seen them as an enemy then and now things were different.

Shepard wanted Ty to stay around, she hoped he would stay and fight by her side. "I don't know Garrus but I hope so, we need people like him on our side." Shepard said. "True enough but if he keeps up how he is he might get himself killed and I don't want to explain to his family that he died saving us." Shepard laughed and said "You and me both, I'll talk to him about it but back to why I came here, what's going on Garrus Kelly said something about you having a fire in your eyes about an email."

**A/N: Thank you all for reading! I will see you next time.**


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The Good Doctor

_Ty stood before his crew awaiting their answer, yes or no was the only answer that was available and either way he would stand by their decision just as they stood by all of his thus far. They all sat in their briefing room which was in the CIC of their ship similar to the one on the original Normandy, Ty stood in the center of the circular room with each of his friends reading over the information he had gained from the location they were either heading to or breaking off from. Ty looked around at all nine of his friends trying to get a read on what they were thinking as they read over the data, most showed facial expressions between shock and thinking that he was entirely insane. Brad was the first to speak up, "This is fucking crazy man, a Thresher nest? We've done some over the top shit Ty but this…fuck sign me up man I'm in."_

_ Ty shook his head slightly at the hot headed risk taking human in his crew before he said "Brad this isn't something to take lightly, this is the closest thing to a suicide mission we'll ever be on…Anyone who goes down there with me has no guarantee of coming back." Silence filled the room as Ty laid the odds of survival out for them; Ty wasn't going to allow them to go in blind to this. Odds of survival were low but still high enough that Ty was certain they could walk away if things worked out. "Why not just bring the ship down into atmosphere and blow the Maw up with our big guns?" Whitney asked._

_ Before Ty could speak up Carson sat up straighter and said "Our ship won't be able to handle the atmosphere of the planet, even with both Valera and I at the helm we'd likely lose all systems before crash landing on the planet and it'd be at least a week before someone found our distress signal…if the Thresher didn't find us." Ty nodded since he had already gone over all of that with Carson and Valera, "Our shuttle would drop us off away from the nest a bit of ways to make sure we didn't get attacked before we even started and then from there we would go on foot to the nest. If things played out we'd evac out after we were done, if things went sour I already decided that I'd stay behind while the ground squad retreated to the shuttle."_

_ Silence once again ensued; Ty had made the decision right when he went over all the possible scenarios of what could happen and what the best chance for escape would be. Thresher Maws could move faster than they could no matter how fast they ran and calling the shuttle into the nest was an even worse idea so if retreat was necessary Ty wasn't going to have any of his crew die because of his decision. He would stay behind and do his best to hold off the Thresher as long as he could on his own. Ty saw a fire in Tara's eyes but before she spoke he said "That decision is not up for discussion, if I call retreat than any of you that are down with me are going to retreat and leave me there to fight it. This is my decision and mine alone." "Then I say screw them and let them send someone else in. Why should we risk our lives against a Thresher Maw for some useless materials and credits that we'll never see? Every time we do something for the Suns we get screwed out of all the profit and always end up with someone getting nearly killed." Tara said._

_ That was one of the reasons Ty didn't want to go through with it, the missions the Suns always sent him to do usually ended up with someone seriously injured or close to dying because of the difficulty of the missions they sent his way. The last mission they went on to take out a group of Eclipse nearly ended in Whitney dying at the hands of that Asari Enyala because the Blue Suns had failed to mention that the Eclipse members happened to be an elite squad and they happened to be waiting for a group of Blue Suns like Ty and his squad to come after them. "I'm with Tara on this one Ty, count me out." Darian said._

_ Ty nodded understandingly at both his second in command and chief engineer but brought his sights to the remaining squad who had yet to answer him, "Fuck it I already know that I'm gonna die fighting so I might as well die fighting a Thresher Maw, count me in Ty." Brad said. "Are you sure Brad?" Ty asked. "Fuck yea I am; besides if we succeed I can go around saying that I killed Thresher Maw." Brad said. "And if you die?" Whitney asked. Brad shrugged and said "At least I had the balls to stand by my leader to the end." Ty saw the frustration build in Whitney's, Darian's, and Tara's faces from Brad's comment, Ty wasn't sure if it was intended to get under their skin but he wasn't going to have Brad goading anyone into a fight which he was so great at doing, "No matter what you all stood by me through everything we've been through, this one mission does not change a thing about you all being my crew and friends. I will not hold anything against anyone who does not want a part of this." Ty said._

_ There was shuffling from Carson which caught Ty's attention, "Speak your mind Carson." Ty said. The Turian was the most nervous person he had in his squad and it surprised him that a Turian could be so nervous since most were calm and cool. Carson always had a problem with speaking in front of a group even though he knew all of the squad very well, "If you chose to do this than I am with you Ty." "Carson are you sure?" Ty asked. Carson nodded and said "I am." Ty nodded in response than looked at Valera and said "That means your sitting it out Valera." Valera attempted to argue but Ty cut her off by putting his hand up as he said "If shit hits the fan and none of us make it than someone needs to be able to pilot the ship, like it or not you're sitting it out."_

_ Valera still wanted to argue but she chose to stay quiet, if it had been Valera to volunteer first Ty would have benched Carson, that left Whitney, Kar, Gallick and Grissom. Ty looked at Whitney first and noticed a bit of unease in her face, "Whitney?" Ty asked. "I'm sorry Ty but I can't do this. The sound they make makes me freeze up and that would make me a hindrance to you." Whitney said. Ty nodded and said "I understand." "I'm in you little Pyjak, I'm about the only chance you have of defeating that thing." Kar said. "Kar have you ever faced a Thresher Maw?" Ty asked. "You'd be surprised by what we Krogan have to do in our Rite of Passage." Kar said. "I'll take your word for it since I doubt I'll ever be apart of one. Gallick, Grissom it comes down to your decisions, I won't go unless I have both of you."_

_ Grissom looked his normal calm Drell self as he looked up from the data-pad and said "I am with you." "You sure?" Ty asked. Grissom nodded once and said "If I am to depart to the sea it will be while I fight by your side." "Gallick?" Ty asked. The Veteran Batarian looked at his data-pad one last time then looked up at Ty and asked "Are you sure?" "When the hell have I been sure about anything?" Ty answered as he always did when Gallick asked. Gallick smirked and said "Good then I'm in." "Alright then that means this mission is a go, I'll let Tarak know. If you have anything you want to do before this mission guys than let me know, this may be our last chance so put some thought in, we have as long as we want to finish this mission." Ty said. As the crew began to file out Ty felt the uneasiness in his gut as he watched them all walk out the door, he couldn't help but feel he was sending himself and his five friends who decided to follow him to their deaths. __**How bad could it be right?**_

* * *

Pain, pain was all Ty could feel as he woke up with his head throbbing like a Krogan drum line was playing. Ty opened his eyes and immediately regretted it as the bright white light pierced through and sent waves of pain through his head making him let out a groan as he put his hand up in front of his eyes in an attempt to block the light out. _This must be what having a hangover feels like_, Ty thought. As the light became less bright due to his eyes readjusting to the amount of light in the room he began to lean up onto his elbows to get his bearings of where he was and try to remember why he was in such pain. Ty looked around and saw that he was in the Med-Bay and Doctor Chakwas was sitting at her desk typing away. He felt his head and felt fabric around it and that brought back the memories of head-butting Grunt until he was knocked unconscious.

His head continued to throb as he looked back over to Chakwas who had turned to look over at him at the same time, "Oh you're awake." Chakwas said. "How…how long have I been out?" Ty asked trying to get his words together. Chakwas stood up and walked over to him and said "About an hour or so, how do you feel Ty?" "Like the Krogan army is marching in my head." Ty said feeling his bandaged forehead. That got a smile out of Chakwas as she said "Well you should've guessed that would happen doing what you did with Grunt though I am surprised you managed to bruise Grunts face pretty badly." Ty nodded, he was surprised himself since he didn't figure his own head was that hard but he went up against Kar's full head plate instead of Grunt's still growing head plate so maybe that made the difference, that or he was hard headed in a more literal sense than he thought. Ty sat himself up against the wall behind the bed and asked "So what are the doctor's orders?" "You need to lay here and rest yourself for a day or two so I can keep a close eye on your concussion, aside from that I would actually like to talk to you." Chakwas said.

Ty groaned a little at hearing he was bed rested though he was sure if his head had any say it would have breathed a sigh of relief. Bed rested were two of the worst words in fighting history, those words meant he couldn't do anything except sit around and wait to be cleared. "Who put me on bed rest Miranda or Shepard?" Ty asked. "Both, you'll need to be a hundred percent when you go against the Collectors and that's what the Commander and Miss Lawson want to make sure of. You shouldn't be surprised really after how many injuries you've accumulated since you got on board." It had only been one major injury in his eyes and that was being impaled on a wall, the whole cybernetic problem and this weren't really "injuries" in his eyes, just slight bumps in the road.

Despite Ty hoping she'd just let him go Chakwas didn't look like she was going to change her mind, she dealt with the Queen of stubbornness in Shepard so he doubted his bull headed stubbornness would get him out of it so he let out sigh of slight disappointment and said "Okay I have a feeling our talk will take some time so you should probably bring over a chair." Chakwas nodded and walked over to her chair and brought it over to the side of Ty's bed and sat down in it, "So what's up doc?" Ty asked.

Chakwas relaxed herself in her chair and said "I've seen you in near death states and other injuries more times than any other person on this crew, excluding Shepard and Garrus, but I've never actually got to know who you were aside from things I hear from Miss Lawson and the Commander. I was alive during your grandfather's rise to infamy and then his demise and then the subsequent blacklisting of your father and you and your brother but the way the Alliance described you all doesn't exactly fit the person that sits here in front of me. I like to know the people I am taking care of and I have a feeling we will see a lot of each other in the coming battles." Ty nodded and said "Fair enough, what do you want to know?" "Why did you really join this mission, it wasn't to find Haley you didn't really use the Commander or Cerberus for that so there had to be some other reason?" Chakwas asked.

That was a valid point, he never used any of Shepard's or Cerberus's resources he had just used Aria. He had asked Shepard to help him find Haley and that was his intention of joining the mission but he didn't use her help. He wasn't sure if it was feeling that he was obligated to help because they asked and the things that were happening was going to be a universal problem soon enough or if it was just his want to do good and attempt to help save the Galaxy by fighting with the one person he knew was going to be spear heading that fight. "Hearing that human colonies were being abducted and the threat of the galaxy from the Reapers was a big thing. Despite what the Alliance says I don't want to kill everyone, I want to help and I always have wanted to help but, well I'm a most wanted criminal." Chakwas nodded and said "That's very noble but is that it surly there's something else that made you do it, I heard from the Commander that you have told her that she has helped you with some of your inner conflicts even when she didn't know it."

Ty didn't know what about Chakwas it was but she seemed safe for him to talk about anything, she was like a motherly figure and for some reason he could tell that she legitimately cared, so he decided to spill the beans but before he did he had one sarcastic comment, "I thought Chambers was the one to go see about psych evals, yea that was part of it to." Ty stopped for a second and took a deep breath than he said "I've been on the run since I was thirteen since that's when I started running into bounty hunters and Alliance marines who decided that going to Omega would be "one big party" and from being on the run and doing everything I've done it's come with a lot of ups and downs but the downs seemed to always get worse no matter how much I thought it couldn't get worse."

Chakwas looked attentive as Ty stopped; it felt weird talking about it to someone since he hadn't talked about this stuff to anyone for a very long time. His family never pushed him to talk about it and back then he didn't feel that talking would do anything except piss him off. "I've always tried to be the good guy even when I was a bad guy which is why I had my moral code, well that and my dad raised me to have my code that represented what I stood for. I have no illusions about what I did as a merc being good because a lot of it wasn't but I never did something that crossed my code and that had allowed me to live without regretting my actions. My friend Grissom who was a Drell once told me that life has a balance and that you can't change the bad you did but you can do something good to balance out the bad. It would never change the bad but he told me it would give me balance, I had listened to him but after everything happened I lost my way and the balance of mind I had created changed to my one goal of vengeance no matter what it cost me."

Chakwas nodded her head understandingly but waited for Ty to continue, his mind had been balanced at one point and his ability to join minds with someone didn't render him unconscious because of his mental fortitude. "When Shepard approached me for the mission, well after I got done shoving my gun in her face and staring them down I thought about the mission and I saw it as a chance to not only fight the Reapers but find my balance again or at least die trying to do something good. I was on the Citadel when Sovereign struck so I have been trying to find a way to stop them since then but Shepard is the only one who has made head way with it thus far so I figured that it'd be best to have a truce of a sort between me and her since I saw her as the Alliance. She allowed me to save Haley and right a wrong that I've been trying to right for eight years now and through talking to her I feel like I'm finding that balance again." Chakwas waited to see if Ty was going to continue but when he didn't she asked "Why do you blame yourself for the loss of your friends and girlfriend?"

_It was my fault, I should've figured I was being spied on when I saw the cargo bay full of women and children, I should have brought them with me instead of leaving them on the ship,_ Ty came up with plenty of reasons over the years but when Chakwas asked him none came out he just would open his mouth then close it trying to find words to say. "You seem uncertain about something." Chakwas said. Ty found some words finally and said "I don't know…I should've been more careful and thought about all the angles the Suns could come at me. They were my responsibility and I let them down that day." "You aren't to blame for their deaths and they wouldn't blame you." Chakwas said. She was right about that, Darian held no grudge with him and he knew the others wouldn't blame him for what happened but he still felt responsible. "If it wasn't fo-" Chakwas interrupted him and said "If it wasn't for you're morals and being good hearted they wouldn't have died? If you would've just been a complete scum everything would've been okay?" Chakwas asked in a rhetorical way.

_Ouch,_ Ty thought but what she said was true, he would have had to give those women and children to the slavers to allow them to live and he was pretty sure based on what Scrum had said that Tarak would have killed them all anyway. Ty chuckled a little at Chakwas's comment and said sarcastically "Yea if I embraced my inner asshole everything would've been fine." Chakwas rolled her eyes and said "You know that no matter how much you want to blame yourself there was nothing you could've done except for being an uncaring zealot and never had them as friends." She was right in her own way which made Ty upset because there was no way around it, "Yea that would've stopped it all, its just…my friends deserved better than they got when they stuck with me. They shouldn't be lying in unmarked graves with the ruble of our ship on top of them. Its not fair to them that I go on living and they died all because the Suns wanted me dead and Ka'Reena…she was everything I always wanted to have but once again the Suns wanted me dead so she was dragged into it, I know life aint fair but she didn't deserve that, it wasn't her fight it was mine."

Chakwas looked Ty in the eyes with an understanding look and said "I understand what you are saying Ty but do you think that she would have blamed you." Ty had gotten the answer from the holo, "No." Ty said quietly. Chakwas put a hand on his hand and said "Loss is hard no matter who it is but you can't dwell on it all your life, when you get my age you'll understand that everything that happens to you when your young is just to form who you are as a person." Ty nodded and said "Thanks Chakwas." "Anytime Ty, you should relax while you can you'll be cleared for duty soon and back to being shot at in no time." Chakwas said as she stood up and brought her chair back to her desk.

Since being on bed rest stopped Ty from being able to go about his business he figured listening to Chakwas even if it was just this once would probably be a good idea so he laid down. He stared at the ceiling and would ask Chakwas random questions about her figuring out why she did what she did and learning more about Joker and his brittle bone disease and her relationship Shepard. As hour upon hour passed by he was surprised to be visited by Garrus, Miranda, Jack and Grunt, all at their own times and for different durations of time making Ty realize something very important, this was his new crew. These were his new friends even though Grunt just showed up to thank him for a great fight and Miranda tried to hide the fact she was coming to visit by saying she was checking on his health, they were his new friends which is why he had some of them tattooed. Though he would always remember his fallen friends and Ka'Reena, these people were what he had now along with his family and this ship was where he needed to be.

A little while later Ty let Chakwas know that he was going to be visiting his past memories to pass the time and chose one that even now made him smile. As the Med-Bay faded from his vision his senses were assaulted by the different sounds, smells, and sights that Chora's Den had as he watched the memory take hold of his vision and let him look through his own eyes in the past as he approached a very drunk Kar inside Chora's Den.

* * *

_Ty moved through the crowd where he heard the bellowing laughter of his Krogan friend over the music in the club, "Haha! Come on you Pyjaks you can't out drink a Krogan!" Kar yelled at the humans who happened to be passed out drunk next to him. Ty shook his head at his Krogan friend as a smile crept to his face when he finally reached him and slapped him on the back, "Kar! What the hell you doing challenging these suckers to a drinking contest when you know damn well you can out drink anyone!" Ty yelled over the music. "Ha! That's the fun part, seeing these little Pyjaks trying so hard only to end up looking like that!" Kar yelled as he pointed at the passed out drunken human next to him. "I'll take your word for it! You almost ready to head back to the ship for the night? We still have a few days of shore leave here!" "One more drink and I'll be good to go! How about another!" Kar yelled to the waitress. She nodded with a smile before disappearing around the bar._

_ Ty sat down next to his friend and waited for the waitress to get back, he looked around the club since he had never personally been inside of it before. It looked like it was a lower rate version of Afterlife with people who looked like they were normally too uptight and used this low rent club as a release before they fell back into being a bunch of uptight suit wearing monkeys. The bartender came back with Kar's drink and put it down in front of him, Ty assumed she was going to leave when she leaned down on the counter in front of him, she was a human with long brown hair tied up in a bun while wearing a dancers outfit, "Hey there pretty eyes I haven't seen you here before." The bartender said. Never once had Ty been called pretty eyes but it felt weird and he wonder if it felt that weird for a woman as well._

_ The bartender herself had pretty hazel eyes and a great smile so Ty decided while Kar indulged himself in a bottle of ryncol he'd indulge himself in a little bit of conversation with the nice bartender. "First time actually, may not have ever ventured here if it wasn't for this big lug." Ty said as he motioned to Kar. She smiled as she glanced over at Kar, "He is the most interesting Krogan I have met, a lot nicer than the lot I usually deal with." The bartender said. Kar slammed the glass down and let out a roar which made Ty and the bartender chuckle, "Yea he does that." Ty said. "So this isn't your kind of place then?" The bartender asked. _

_Ty shrugged a little, clubbing had never been his thing unless you count walking in and out of Afterlife to give a mission report and receive a mission clubbing. He had nothing against these kinds of joints but he couldn't find sense in sitting around thinking about getting laid when you could be out getting laid. "I got nothing against these places I just never have had the time for them, plus I can't stand a group of drunks. I'd rather go out dancing then sit around getting drunk or sit around thinking about getting laid when I could be getting laid." Ty answered. The bartender got a bit of a smile on her face as she looked at Ty; she went to speak but was interrupted by a man sitting down further yelling at her, "Hey sweet cheeks how about you pour me a drink!"_

_The bartender rolled her eyes in agitation before she said "Don't go anywhere I'll be back, how about another drink?" The bartender asked Kar. "Bring it on!" Kar yelled. Ty chuckled slightly as she left__**, so she knows I won't leave without Kar so she offers him another drink while he's so drunk he can't realize he's had enough…well played my mysterious bartender well played**__, Ty thought. Soon enough she was back with another drink for Kar and a back to leaning in front of Ty, "So my shift ends in an hour, after you drop off your friend here you want to meet me at my place and then we can go hit a dance club?" The bartender asked. "You're not worried that I could be a horrid dancer?" Ty asked with a smirk. She chuckled slightly as she shook her head, "If you were worried about your dancing you wouldn't have mentioned you like to go dancing." The bartender said. "Maybe I just like to dance even though I may not be good at it." Ty said. "I'll take my chances." The bartender said with a smile._

_There was something about this woman Ty liked but due to his ability to multi task and eavesdrop on the man who had yelled at her before he had been able to pick out that he was getting a bit agitated at the attention she was showing him. Ty decided it warranted caution but he focused back on the woman in front of him, "Alright you convinced me, where do you live and where is the closest dance club so I know whether to get a cab or not." The bartender opened up her Omni-tool and Ty gave her his contact info so she could send him the information he needed. _

_Afterwards she leaned back down and asked "So you're not going to stand me up right?" Ty smirked slightly, she seemed like a nice enough woman but the way she said it sounded like she had been stood up before. If she had been Ty felt bad just because doing that was a pretty dick move or bitch move depending on what gender did it, "I promise I won't but if I can't make it due to my crew needing me we'll reschedule it because I don't like to stand people up and I don't like breaking my promises." Ty said. She nodded and said "I'm Kiara." "Tyler but everyone calls me Ty." Ty's peripheral hearing caught the sound of a glass sliding across the bar counter at a fast speed so he looked to his right and saw a glass flying at Kiara's head._

_As the glass about impacted with her head Ty grabbed it stopping it completely and his eyes locked with the man who tossed it and if looks could kill Ty's death glare would have been like acid burning the man until he was just a skeleton. The man looked at his friends and said something to them about kicking Ty's ass. "How did you hear that?" Kiara asked a bit in shock and shaken up with what could have been a hard hit. "I got good hearing, I think that guy and his…four friends that I can see are about to try and start a bar fight with me so if I can't talk them out of it and if I don't get arrested I will see you tonight. If I do get arrested hopefully I get out tonight and I'll see if you are still up for dancing." Ty said. The men began to approach Ty, "Kar you still sober enough to fight?" Ty asked. "You kidding I could take out a whole platoon right now!" Kar answered in a drunken voice. "Great then be ready." Ty answered._

_The four men approached Ty as he continued to look forward at Kiara, "I suggest you take yourself and your men and walk away, I don't want any trouble but you shouldn't have tried sliding a glass into the bartenders head because you aren't getting the attention you feel you deserve." "Boy you already got trouble." One of the men said. Ty shook his head and turned around in his chair, "One last chance, leave now." The response Ty had hoped for and the one he was given were to opposite entity's, the leader of the group and the one who tossed the glass threw a very bad punch at Ty which allowed him to dodge and stand up while bringing his fist right into the mans sternum knocking the wind out of him, "Bad choice, Kar time to fight, try not to kill them!" Ty yelled to his drunken friend._

_The next moments of chaos led to an all out bar fight that started with Ty and Kar against the four lackeys of the leader to Ty and Kar fighting everyone who decided to jump into the fight including security. Ty head-butted a new entrant into their all out fight and kicked him in the knee knocking him out of the fight while Kar charged his way through a group of people punching and head-butting through them like they were bowling pins while he was laughing a drunken laugh. Ty turned around back to the bar since someone punched him in the back of the head so when he saw the man who did it Ty punched him in the face and tripped his feet out from under him. _

_Ty saw Kiara standing behind the bar still and she still had a smile on her face, "Sorry about this." Ty said with a smile and a laugh. He heard someone approaching him from behind so he looked over his shoulder and saw another drunken man so he elbowed him in the face, "C-Sec will be here any moment so if you're not arrested all night meet me at my place." Kiara said. "It's a deal." Ty said before turning around and punching the next person who approached him with hostility._

_Everyone in the bar had been knocked out or were on the floor groaning in pain when Ty and Kar found that they were the last two standing, before they could make a triumphant exit Ty saw a group of Turians in armor walk into the bar with guns raised, "Kar we gotta surrender this time, I already sent Darian a message he's working on getting us out as we speak." Ty spoke in a whisper to Kar. "He better make it quick, as soon as they find out who you are we're both screwed." Kar whispered back._

_Ty and Kar both raised their hands in surrender as the C-Sec officers stared at the piles of unconscious bodies in a bit of awe before approaching Ty and Kar, "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" The lead Turian asked. "Ummm, it wasn't me?" Ty said in a joking but questioning manor due to the weird question. "Can you believe that this little Pyjak is actually the great great great great nephew of my great great uncle twice removed on my mother's side, I could hardly believe that a Krogan spirit would live in such a tiny form but look at that head plate." Kar said as he pointed to Ty's forehead, "It's gigantic." Kar said in a very drunken voice._

_Ty couldn't help but bust out in laughter before the officers omni-cuffed them both a bit rough due to their answers and brought them down to C-Sec headquarters, Ty and Kar found themselves in an interrogation room with a female human officer staring at them both with a scolding look that was making both Ty and Kar chuckle here and there while making jokes to one another about the bar fight. After Darian faked a signal of a huge shootout in one of the wards and sent it over all of C-Sec channels making them mobilize Valera hacked the door they were in and dressed up as a C-Sec officer and escorted them out of C-Sec and to their ship while Darian made it look like Ty and Kar had been allowed to leave. Kar went with Valera back into the ship while Ty on the other hand messaged Kiara to see if they were still on for some dancing, which it seemed they were. As Ty got a cab he couldn't help but laugh to himself as he remembered that C-Sec officers scolding look that she gave them._

* * *

Ty could feel the smile on his face in the real world as the memory began to fade, that was one of the many good memories he had with his crew and the remainder of the night with Kiara had been a fun time as well dancing for a long time before heading back to her place. The scolding look the officer had gave him still made him chuckle but he began to hear a voice in the real world "…y…hello are you listening to me, TY!" The distant voice got louder and he felt a slap on his left arm which snapped him back to reality to see Shepard standing above him with a serious look that looked exactly like the officers look, Ty couldn't stop himself as he busted out into laughter.

Though he thought for sure his outbreak of laughter was going to get him sent to a loony bin or they would think his brain was damaged he couldn't help but laugh at the stern look she was giving him, "I…I'm sorry but…you caught me at a bad time." Ty managed between laughs but he then realized how ridiculous that sounded which made him start laughing harder. Chakwas was smiling and Shepard tried keeping her straight forward military stone face on until she broke into a light laugh, she got control of herself after a second then Ty was able to get himself into a small chuckle here and there as he said "I'm sorry but the memory of being scolded by C-Sec with my friend Kar plus the fact the look you were giving me looked exactly like the female officer who arrested us got the better of me." Shepard chuckled and said "You'll have to explain that one to me later, me, Grunt and Garrus are going down onto Haestorm to get Tali and I figured since you were probably bored you could head up top and be an over watch."

Ty shrugged and said "Sure but I can do it from here." Shepard, who Ty had just noticed was fully armed and in her armor, raised an eyebrow and asked "How?" Ty figured it would be a good time to let her know his and EDI's little secret so he pulled up his Omni-tool and said "Hey EDI time to let the Commander in on our secret." EDI popped up on his omni-tool and said "Hello Shepard." Ty grinned at Shepard's disbelief and said "That's how, I got EDI here and she can help me." "Ho...wha…how did you do that?" Shepard asked. Ty smirked and said "I'm a genius what can I say." "It was his idea of having his way with my quantum blue box and memory." EDI said in a joking manor which Ty caught. "Oh admit it you enjoyed it as much as the next A.I." Ty joked back.

Shepard seemed loss for words so EDI said "Those were jokes Shepard." "She's still hardwired to the Normandy I just 'borrowed' some of her processes and memory to put it on my bike and omni-tool." Ty said. "You unshackled EDI?" Shepard asked. "No…well not completely…EDI?" Ty asked. "You did not unshackle me completely but I am able to roam between the Normandy and your omni-tool and bike." EDI answered. "See no problem, so EDI can you show me the battlefield while they are down there?" Ty asked not actually sure what was possible and moving the conversation away from the previous. "I can patch you into her helmet camera or their gun cameras, if those are not suitable I can give you an overhead view for a more tactical approach." EDI said. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable having you in my head Ty." Shepard joked.

Ty just smirked and said sarcastically, "Knowing you I'm always in your head you sicko besides not like you need your helmet right so I'll be on your pistol, shotgun or tactical view, you should get going though just in case she needs help." Shepard rolled her eyes at his first comment and said "Just don't over exert yourself doing this." Ty gave her a really look as he said "Really how the hell will I over exert myself sitting here giving you tactical advise." "Never know being on my cameras may get you excited." Shepard said than stuck her tongue out and began walking away. Though Ty had found it funny that she stuck her tongue out since he couldn't recall seeing her ever do that he couldn't let her get the last word, "You'd enjoy me looking at you wouldn't you, you sick freak." Ty retorted as she left the room. The doors closed stopping her from countering him and Ty looked at EDIs mini hologram and said "Nice joke EDI you're catching on." "Thank you Ty, I will bring up the tactical view when they land." EDI said than disappeared.

Ty laid his head back down and put his hands on his chest as he waited for EDI to pop up on his omni-tool again with a tactical view, as he waited Chakwas looked over at him and asked "Are you teaching EDI human emotions?" Ty shrugged a little, he wasn't sure if he was really "teaching" or if she was just paying attention to what he said so she could learn more about human behavior, "I'm not entirely sure I'd call it teaching but she is catching onto having a sense of humor so if she learns other human behaviors while I do that than I guess, EDI may be an A.I. but she's the nicest one and I have a feeling she'd never betray us no matter what." Ty said. Chakwas nodded and said "That's good of you to do for EDI she has human like tendencies like curiosity, maybe one day she'll be more than just a hologram." Ty chuckled and said "I hope that day comes because the day she has a body of her own is the day I'll get Joker to hook up with her and take the human ship relationship further, he may not like her but she's still part of the ship which he loves so part of him has to like her." Chakwas just smiled and shook her head and went back to work.

It didn't take more than ten minutes for EDI to pop the tactical view up on Ty's omni-tool and patch him into the squad's ear-pieces. The display had three blue dots indicating the squad and anything red was enemy's, any Quarian was white, all dots had life signs on them so Ty could inform the squad of others life signs or their own since the sun was frying their shields which made Ty thankful he didn't go because he would be the one sun burnt…or fried and dead. Ty had a good view of everything and he started speaking to them in his best attempt to rhyme though he was sure it wouldn't be that great, "So ladies twas the day of a great battle and all across the planet nothing had been stirring since the sun shorted it all out. The Quarians had been running tests and the Geth had found out, fights had ensued since the Geth had come down. The Quarians had no choice but to flee and destroy having no hope at all that they'd ever see them destroyed. Shepard was itching for battle and ready to help with their over watch watching hoping they wouldn't melt, they started to move forward into the light when suddenly they figured out oh shit we're getting fried. They dashed forward to the shade and spotted a gate which happened to be locked, well who'd have figured you would happen to be blocked. Go forward at once and swat them like flies or I'll come down there myself and probably get fried." "That was…actually not that terrible." Garrus said. "Not as good as a battle song." Grunt said. "Nice to have poetry while your about to go into a fight." Shepard said sarcastically.

Ty smirked and continued his rhyme "Oh you liked it here's another, you still haven't got moving and my rhyming needs work, get your shit together and find something that works, I'm running out of ideas so here's some advice get yourselves moving and stay away from the light. My head is still hurting but my memory is intact so you should probably dash or Grunt will tear you in half." Ty heard Grunt laugh than he said "Good one Ty." "Thanks but seriously get moving." Ty said. "Okay okay we're going, geez your worse than my mother." Shepard said. Ty chuckled and waited as they opened the door and started going forward, there were some dots along the way but none were alive, there had been only two Quarian dots and both were dead but the second one had a radio on it and Shepard starting talking to a Quarian marine named Kal'Reegar.

Ty was able to listen in on the conversation learning that Tali was still alive, which he was happy about, but the only problem was that she wasn't with Kal she was with another team further ahead. Shepard and the squad started running forward since a Geth ship took out a column, the column landed in front of the door and for obvious reasons no one was happy about it so Ty started scanning the area and found the two explosive packs that Tali left behind, "EDI mark these for Shepard." Ty said. "Marking." EDI said. "Shepard you got hostiles, four troopers and two destroyers there's a perch for Garrus on the right but it might be covered in sun or more Geth that haven't activated, there's also a perch on your immediate left but I don't know how good it'll be." Ty said. "Thanks Ty, Garrus you heard him pick your perch and be careful." Shepard said. "On it." Garrus said.

Garrus had picked the perch on the right but had to kill more Geth that activated and then he sniped the remaining ones Grunt and Shepard hadn't destroyed. After the battle finished Ty was moving the camera angle around looking for more enemies as Shepard and the squad got to the first demo-charge. So far there hadn't been anything terrible but then four red dots popped up and forcing Ty to scan what models they were, he figured it was karma biting him in the ass for thinking that they hadn't fought tougher enemies when he saw the dot that came up as Geth Prime, "Ah shit, Shepard watch your ass you've got a prime." Ty said. "I can see that! You know I was expecting you to make a rhyme about it." Shepard said and Ty knew she had a smirk on her face. Ty shook his head with a smirk and said "See that's the problem with a lot of people, you do something once and they expect you to do it all the time. Hey Garrus use your overload and after it hits Shepard use a pull field on it to get the others in it than both you and Grunt use your shotguns and blow it to smithereens and Garrus snipe the ones they miss, use your biotic charge if you want Shepard." The blue dots started moving around and as soon as the plan came to mind it went into action as red dot after red dot disappeared.

Ty was doing good at being an over watch helping Shepard and the squad with strategic points and warnings of the Geth getting them safely through to the second charge and back, as Shepard was setting the charges Ty made up a very short rhyme, "As we all sit impatiently for the charges to get set I couldn't help but wonder what do the Geth have next." "You know if being a fugitive doesn't work out for you Ty you should take up poetry, serenade the Reapers until they fall over." Garrus said sarcastically. Ty rolled his eyes and shot back "And if being a sniper doesn't work for you Garrus you should take up being a comedian, make the Reapers laugh themselves to death."

"Now I'd pay to see Garrus make a Reaper laugh." Shepard said. "Hey Grunt who do you think would have a better chance at making a Reaper laugh, Garrus or Joker?" Ty asked. "Hmm, that's a hard one Ty though I doubt either because I would have already killed the Reapers before Vakarian or Joker would be able to say anything." Grunt replied. Ty nodded to himself and said "Touché though I would have knocked one down before you." "Is that a challenge human?" Grunt asked. Before Ty could continue Shepard chimed in "Uh no it wasn't because lets face it I would have killed one before all three of you. Everyone back up it's gonna blow in ten seconds." "I think I would have killed a Reaper before any of you, my Thanix Cannons would take them out." Garrus joined in. "Alright alright this is a challenge then, when the Reapers get here whoever kills the first Reaper wins but until than take cover." Ty said. The bomb went off and Grunt started laughing, "What's so funny Grunt?" Shepard asked. "Sorry I just imagined having a Reaper under my boot and seeing the shock looks on all your faces as I won the bet." Grunt said.

**A/N: Hey sorry for the delay but I'm back now so hopefully there won't be as long of a wait for the next chapter. Sorry about the poor attempt at rhyming but I thought it was kind of funny and couldn't help it, I seriously doubt there will be any other rhyming, if you can call it that, in this story because that took me a long time to come up with. Thanks for reading all of you, and thank you to A Shadow In Chains and SharpRevan for the reviews, I agree SharpRevan the med-bay might have been a better room for Ty for all the recurring injuries he gets but I think every time he wakes up in a med-bay or gets bed rested he hears Beethoven's Fifth. Thanks for the review A Shadow In Chains though I'm not sure if you'll see this any time soon since it says you reviewed on the first chapter but if you are all the way here than thanks if not and you read this later on thanks as well. As usual thanks for reading and thank you for following and the favorites and the reviews, I will see you next time. **


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

A Concerning Problem

The image of Grunt standing on top of a Reaper raising his hands in victory flashed through Ty's head making him start to chuckle lightly, it was highly unlikely to happen with the whole indoctrination thing the Reapers had going for them but it was still a funny image. What made it slightly funnier for Ty was that Shepard and Garrus had stopped completely and he imagined that they were both probably slacked jawed just like the image Grunt had created for himself. Ty decided to input his image for them, "I can see it now, Grunt standing victorious on top of a Reaper, a crowd forming around him staring in awe until Grunt raises his hands in victory and lets out a bellowing roar. The crowd goes wild raising their hands with him as they cheer his name over and over and over again." Ty said. "See he understands." Grunt said. "Grunt the warlord who took down a Reaper, I think it has a ring to it don't you Grunt?" Ty asked. "Heh heh heh." Grunt laughed lowly. "And Garrus the Turian sidekick who held your ammo clips for you." Ty joked. "Ha even better!" Grunt roared. "How about Garrus the dashing Turian that kills Reapers on the side." Garrus said. "Eh." "No." Ty and Grunt responded within seconds of each other.

Shepard chuckled in the background but started to move forward which signaled for squad to stop bantering with one another. The squad got into the building and found technology, dead Geth and dead Quarians, a recording left by Tali and finally Tali looking for the base camp squad. _Thank the Spirits! She's still alive, _Ty thought, _come on Tali just hold out a bit longer, Ka'Reena please watch over her. _Ty switched to Shepard's pistol camera hoping to at least see what type of room they were in or the place Tali's voice was coming from but he was dissatisfied since she had all of her guns in their magnetic holsters so he switched to Grunts shotgun to find him still aiming it and looking around. "Hey Grunt could you move your shotgun to the right a little." Ty said. The camera moved and he saw some dead Quarians and Geth than Shepard and Garrus talking to Tali, she looked okay in the holographic image but it was hard to tell much since it was just a holo, Ty looked around the area and saw a few guns, an Avenger, Viper, Carnifix, and a Scimitar to be exact, laying around that looked useful still_. Hmm the crew is going to need the best guns that we can get on short notice and the only weapons dealer I know is shady on his best day and a rat on his worst,_ Ty thought_, I can upgrade their guns though but I don't want to use up all the guns in the armory on an experiment since it might take me more than one gun to get it right_. "Hey Grunt see that rifle there on the ground." "Yea." Grunt answered. "If you bring that back I can customize it and maybe give it inferno rounds for you to use and some other useful things, unless you're against burning your enemies alive." Ty said with a smile.

Ty knew Grunt liked carnage and he figured what better way to cause carnage than burning your enemies alive, judging on the deep chuckle that came from Grunt Ty was right in his assumption, "Don't tease me Ty, I'll bring it back for you, there's four including that one do you want us to grab them all." _Hmm I could outfit each with different ammo and give it to the others to use,_ Ty thought, _if I can get it to work at least_. "Um sure why not I could use a science project while I'm on bed rest bring them all and if you see any other weapons along the way and you have room to carry them grab them to I'll make us some nice guns with special ammo." Ty said. "Sounds like fun; hey Garrus grab one of these." Grunt said sounding more distant. "What for Grunt?" Garrus asked. Ty decided that he should explain to Garrus since Grunt might over exaggerate his customizing capabilities, "Hey Garrus he's grabbing them for me they still look usable and I should be able to customize them and give them new ammo like inferno rounds or strong armor piercing rounds and if I'm lucky some warp ammo." Ty said. "You know how to do all that?" Garrus asked.

_No not completely,_ Ty thought. Brad had taught him how to do his sniper and pistols and he was able to customize his dad's and brother's weapons but it had been some time since he done anything like that and despite being able to see his past with perfect clarity, the skill to do it and remembering that he did it were two separate things. "Kinda, if I succeed you get a new gun if I don't then no worries." Ty said. "True, do you want us to pick up every gun we see?" Garrus asked. Now that, as funny as it could be, was not what he wanted. They needed to get Tali that had to be their main focus not scavenging for guns. "No not every gun but if you happen to see sub machine guns or pistols that you can grab without getting shot than go ahead." Ty said. "Okay we'll grab some." Garrus said. "Much appreciated." Ty said than went back to a tactical view.

Tali got the door open and the squad grabbed some of the guns than they moved through the building to the next room, before they opened the door dots swarmed Ty's screen and one dot in particular caught his attention at the far end of the map. "EDI what's that dot there?" Ty asked clicking on the only un-marked dot. "Scans show it is of the Colossus class." _Colossus? Why does that sound familiar,_ Ty thought. "Sounds familiar, EDI could you describe it in terms I'd understand?" Ty asked. "Four legs, has a strong beam canon." EDI answered. _Oh shit now I remember_, Ty switched the camera to Shepard's pistol and saw the floor and asked "Shepard what did I tell you about leaving your gun on the floor?" The camera started moving than Ty saw the Colossus and Shepard said "Its not my fault that damn thing tried blowing us up." Shepard said in a mock agitated tone. "Ah definitely just like old times." Garrus said. "This is why I fight with you Shepard, you fight big enemies. Now let's go kill this thing." Grunt said.

Before they got moving Ty saw a Quarian dot still alive so he said "I think that Kal'Reegar guy is still alive I got a living Quarian on here but he's taken fire. You should hurry up he may be in danger of dying." "You heard the man lets move." Shepard said. The field ahead was swarmed with enemies there was a high point on the right covered with sun and enemies, the middle was swarmed and you were screwed on both sides than the left had enemies but it wasn't as bad as the others. Ty was formulating a plan for the squad as Shepard told Kal to stand down so he started to pass his plan onto Garrus and Grunt, "Hey guys I gotta plan to take that thing down." There was an explosion then Garrus said "I'm open for suggestions any time you feel like sharing."

Ty smirked at the slightly stressed Turian, not that the stress was unwarranted Ty had seen the damage the Colossus could cause on the Citadel when the Geth invaded. "Okay the middle will tear you to shreds and the right will burn the shit out of you than the left you've got Geth up the wazu." Ty started. "Where's the plan in there?" Garrus asked dryly than an explosion went off. "I'm getting there don't get your armor bent out of shape, Grunt what's the likely hood of you taking out all the Geth on the top floor before your shields need to recover?" Ty asked. "I could destroy them easily." Grunt answered. "And Garrus how well of a target do you have on everything from there?" Ty asked. "I can see the Colossus and all the Geth from here but I'd be widely exposed unless-" Ty didn't wait for Garrus to figure it out, "Unless the Colossus is distracted and all the Geth are gone, when Shepard's done talking tell her to take the left and take out the enemies there, Grunt take the right and do what you do best and in the midst of everything the Colossus will be so confused that you can get a shot on it Garrus."

Ty and his brother had used a similar tactic against the Colossus they had ran into just instead of trying to get it confused so someone could shoot it with a sniper they were trying to confuse it so it would stay still while their dad dropped a sky car on top of it from the level above them. Ty decided to leave that out for the three; there was an explosion than Garrus said "Yea but the Colossus huddles down and repairs itself taking away the advantage." Ty and his brother didn't have the repair problem to deal with but the plan had confused it enough to not move around a lot so he figured if it worked for that it would work here, "True but Garrus if Grunt and Shepard are shooting it from the sides it'll be so confused that-" It was Garrus's turn to interrupt "It wont huddle down making it get attacked from three sides easily taking down its shields and destroying it, Grunt did you knock brains into him?" Garrus asked. Ty chuckled and Grunt replied "If I had known that that's all it took I would've head-butted him a long time ago." "Ha ha ha you two are hilarious I get it I'm not always the tactical one, I like to take risks." Ty retorted. "Yea and look what's that got you, cybernetics, a tomahawk slicing your face, getting knocked unconscious from the Collectors, getting knocked out by Grunt, it seems to be working out for you." Garrus shot back. "That's it your not getting a new gun." Ty joked in mock anger. "Ha!" Grunt laughed. "Ah come on that's not fair, I'm sorry I didn't mean it." Garrus said in a mock sad tone. Ty was holding back his laughter as he said "Okay I believe you I wont switch your dextro food and drinks to human food and drinks." Garrus was silent for a second than he asked "You wouldn't do that would you?"

Before Ty could start laughing Shepard finished with Reegar and asked Garrus for Ty's game plan since she overheard it while she was talking. Garrus told her the plan and Shepard said "Damn Grunt you knocked a brain and rhymes into him nice job." "You're all fucking hilarious." Ty said with a smirk. "We try, okay you two you know the plan let's take this thing out and get Tali, Ty keep us updated if more Geth come." Shepard said. "I will, don't get sunburned." Ty joked.

To Ty's surprise the plan worked. Grunt charged and blasted through the Geth on the top all before his shields went down while Shepard used her biotics to take down the Geth on the left side. As they reached the sides Garrus took down all the Geth in the center and began shooting the Colossus while Shepard and Grunt killed the remaining Geth that surrounded the Colossus and then began shooting it as well. The Colossus couldn't take all the damage and live and when Shepard pulled out her Arc Projector and shot it the Colossus promptly exploded. Ty had worried the plan wouldn't work since after all it was his plan but relief washed over him knowing that not only did he not end up getting the three killed because of his plan but Tali was safe. Ty missed talking to Tali and hearing her call him a Bosh'tet because of his sarcasm, their friendship had been strong while he was with Ka'Reena but after her death Ty disappeared off the map and stopped talking to Tali due to the guilt he had felt at the time. He hoped that they would get it back to how they were before but that would require her to come on board for the mission, and knowing Tali as he did she probably would.

The mission was a success overall and that made Ty smile slightly as he took down the tactical view and disengaged his comm, as he began to drop his arm EDI popped up and said "Ty I have a…concern." That gave Ty a weird feeling as he kept his left arm up,_ concern I didn't know that EDI had that programed in her unless she's been picking up on human emotions between me, Shepard and anyone else. _"That concerns me already EDI that you have a concern. What's up though?" Ty asked. "Shepard, her vitals are troubling." EDI said. Ty glanced up at Chakwas who was now more alert and looking over at Ty and EDI, _what the hell could be wrong with her, didn't Miranda say she made sure there was no issues, man Shepard you're not supposed to have health issues that's my duty on the ship_, Ty thought.

Ty stayed silent for a couple seconds, _Shepard seemed fine before she left, hell she seemed fine this whole time she's been on the mission so what the hell would make her vitals troubling. Part of me doesn't want to know due to the fact it'll probably make me worry a bunch but we have to figure this out, if Shepard gets taken out we're all screwed._ "Okay lay it on me EDI don't sugar coat this." Ty said. "I have some unusual readings coming from her that Miss Lawson had me watching. There wasn't anything troubling before but there has been a spike in her brain activity causing headaches and her biotics have flared on more than one occasion." Ty looked over at Chakwas and asked "Shepard ever mention headaches to you?" "She did mention it once but she had a history of them when we were going after Saren so I just prescribed her the pills she used to take and she hadn't mentioned it since." "You did the right thing Doctor Chakwas she hasn't had an issue since then it's just been on this mission." EDI said.

Ty thought about biotic flare ups and headaches, all the biotics he had ever known didn't have flare ups or headaches or at least they never spoke about them. Darian was a rare Turian biotic but his training in the Turian military when they transferred him to the Cabals had helped him get an expert control of them. _The sun down there was shorting everything out and taking down shields, what if it affected her amp_, Ty thought. "What about the sun there maybe that's throwing her out of whack, frying her amp maybe?" Ty asked. "Hmm it could be possible, best to notify Miss Lawson since she had EDI watching out for this, she may know what is wrong." Chakwas said getting up. _I hope so,_ Ty thought. "Okay EDI we're getting Miranda best you go to the med-bay area where you pop up so Miranda doesn't throw a hissy fit." Ty said. EDI disappeared off his Omni-tool than popped up onto her med-bay post than she asked "What is a…hissy fit?"

Ty smiled to himself at EDIs wanting to learn and get passed the synthetic organic barrier and said "When a woman or man gets really upset and start pitching a fit about something like when Joker tries to pretend you aren't there then you remind him you are and he starts complaining, difference is Miranda's will end in me probably getting killed." "I see so when you first got onto the Normandy, before you saved Miranda and helped Garrus, Miranda was venting to Shepard about you being a danger to the mission because of your history, was that her throwing a…hissy fit." Ty couldn't help but burst out in laughter knowing that EDI was telling the truth and it sounded like something Miranda would do, "Did I say something funny?" EDI asked innocently.

Ty pulled himself together since he saw Chakwas and Miranda on their way back in so he said "No what you said was yes a hissy fit but I couldn't help but laugh because I wished I would've heard that conversation though I'm sure I could guess what was said." Miranda and Chakwas walked in and Ty said loudly "Hey, visiting hours closed about an hour ago please sign up on the list for tomorrow." Miranda let one side of her mouth quirk up into a smirk than she said "Last time I checked not only am I the second in command but I saved your life so I'm allowed to visit whenever I please." Title throwing was something that Ty paid no mind to because, quite frankly, he didn't give a damn but he would let Miranda indulge in the title so he put his hands up in an I surrender motion and said "Cool it down princess no need to bring in facts like that. Besides if I recall I saved your ass from losing an arm or worse."

Miranda shrugged and said "We're even, anyway what have you and EDI got for me that Chakwas hasn't informed me of already?" "I don't know much just what EDI told me but what it truly gets down to is that Shepard is hiding the fact she's hurting right now from everyone so if it weren't for EDI we wouldn't be having this conversation. EDI is there anything you can tell us about the flare ups in her biotics or her headaches that maybe we can piece together before they all get on board?" Ty asked. "I can't pinpoint at this time why it is happening, it could be a lengthy exposure to the sun affecting her amp or maybe it's something from the Lazarus project that is affecting her." "It can't be the last one I took every precaution it has to be something else." Miranda said jumping on the attack.

EDI went silent and Ty began to felt his agitation rise. She may be an A.I. but in Ty's view she still had feelings and she was his friend so Ty went to her defense, "Listen Miranda we don't know what it is maybe its something from all the way back when she was a child or when she fought Saren, who the hell knows? All we can do is speculate which is what EDI was trying to do since I asked her to give me some ideas. You also have to take into account that Shepard was woken up early her scars didn't fully heal maybe the sun down there is affecting them or maybe someone sabotaged her while you were working on her."

Miranda seemed a bit shocked at Ty jumping to EDIs defense but she quickly recovered from it as Chakwas jumped into the conversation, "It may just be a coincidence too we wont know anything until we can run proper scans on her, though I'm not sure she'll just do it she's always hated doing check ups and has escaped me more than once." Ty felt his mouth quirk up into a smile_, Commander Shepard afraid of a little check up; oh if I get the chance she is never going to hear the end of this. I may hate needles but I've never ran away from one._ As Ty let the funny thought leave his head he had an idea, _wait a minute if EDI could get her readings while she's down there maybe…_"Hey EDI would you be able to keep a continuous watch on Shepard's vitals and brain activity even when she's just walking about or sleeping?" Ty asked. "Yes." EDI answered. Ty looked at Miranda and asked "And princess lets assume something bad could happen like…I don't know something really bad would you and the doc be able to get to her before something even worse happened like, lets just say saving her from an imminent death?"

Miranda nodded and said "I could get to her easily." "I'd be able to get to her." Chakwas said. Ty nodded and said "Okay then how about this we keep a close eye on her for the rest of the day and into the night see if her condition gets better or worsens, no tests no scans just see if something changes or maybe she'll say something about it, meanwhile EDI I know you do a lot but would it also be possible for you to run scans on a cause of what's going on along with your other duties?" "Yes, I wouldn't be close to being tasked to my maximum capacity and I could still run at full potential." EDI answered.

Ty nodded, that was the plan then, watch, observe and figure out what the hell was going on. This wasn't a rush in and blow something up type of thing this was a watching and planning accordingly type of thing. Shepard would no doubtly brush them all off and say she is fine so that meant hiding that they were observing her every move kind of like infiltrating a restricted area which was something Ty was very accustomed to and good at. Now that the plan was set it was time to gather every bit of information they could, that meant no detail was to small or to out of the ordinary_. Ferreting out secrets, Liara I think you rubbed off on me,_ Ty thought. "See problem solved until we find out what the hell is going on; Miranda is there by any chance someone could have sabotaged something, anything without you knowing?" "We had a traitor but I dealt with him, I think I would've noticed sabotage on her." Miranda answered.

She was too confident, granted it was warranted since she did bring Shepard back to life but she was already overlooking information and they had to look at it from all angles and look at all possibilities regardless of how low the possibility was and that was something Ty hadn't done when he needed to most but this was his chance to balance out what he hadn't done with what he could do. "Is there any chance, even a slim one you missed something whether it be sabotage or just something with putting her brain back together?" Ty asked in a serious tone. Miranda must have realized how serious he was being about this, she herself was being serious but what he had asked was for one hundred percent certainty and judging on the look she had, she couldn't give him it. Miranda sighed and said "I don't know. I know I put everything back together correctly, but I wasn't looking for sabotage." "There's your project then look into any way the traitor would've done something even ask the Illusive ass if he has any top secret experiments that you didn't know about that the traitor may have been trained in." Ty said.

Miranda seemed awe struck by Ty giving orders but he saw a hint of a smile on her face, maybe she liked being ordered around or maybe she just thought he didn't have it in him because he usually followed orders it didn't matter all that mattered was figuring out what the hell could be wrong with Shepard. "What are you going to do; you obviously have some plan going?" Miranda asked.

Ty smirked, maybe Grunt had knocked some sense into him or maybe he always had it and never really showed it because given the choice of planning an infiltration and jumping through a window to hopefully catch someone off guard Ty would more than likely choose the window. "Me plan, I don't plan I just go on whims and hope I come out the other side, or at least I used to until Grunt gave me a concussion." Ty said rubbing the fabric on his head. "Yea that seems to have changed you a little, what are you going to do?" Miranda asked. Ty adjusted himself and said "First off get Shepard to bring Tali down here so I can say hi, second after Tali leaves I'll talk to Shepard see if I can get her to spill the beans without forcing her." Chakwas nodded and said "That sounds like a good idea though the commander usually doesn't open up to others but maybe you'll have better luck."

When had he ever had any better luck than others, Shepard seemed to enjoy talking to him so maybe she would open up, he doubted it though. "I sure hope so because I'd hate to have to tie her down to make her take a test." Ty said. "I'll go start looking into what I can, EDI see what you can find on what Ty said." Miranda said. "Yes Miss Lawson, Ty I will inform Shepard upon her arrival to have Tali'Zorah visit you." EDI said. "Thanks EDI you're a big help." Ty said sincerely. "Thank you Ty." EDI said than disappeared. Miranda gave Ty a disapproving look as she said "I'm not even going to ask about you befriending an A.I." "Her name is EDI." Ty said in an agitated tone giving Miranda his first glare since he first got on board.

Miranda was taken aback by what Ty's glare and what he said but she said "Okay no need to get defensive about it, I'm going to start looking for anything I can find to answer this problem." "Have fun princess." Ty said. "Stop calling me that." Miranda said as she walked out. "Not a chance." Ty said loud enough for her to hear as the doors closed. _EDI is no different from any of us aside she's a hologram, she's not just a tool to be used she's a shipmate and a friend, _Ty ranted to himself. _Now we wait for Tali and Shepard and when Shepard does come down we can hopefully figure out what the problem is before something bad happens._

* * *

_"Yeah but you were both "exotic dancers" so you have no room to debate." Ty said as he stood next Darian. Tara and Valera were standing across from them at his doors both with smiles on their faces as biotics began to glow around them, suddenly Ty felt his feet leave the ground and he felt his back hit a wall before finally falling to the ground with a thud. He heard a second thud next to him which told him that Darian had gotten tossed to for jokingly saying that everyone knew about the T'Vana sisters and their reputation, a false statement but a funny one. Darian and Ty had been talking about what they needed to do and where to go next when the two came up to find out that information themselves only to start giving Ty a hard time. They were all just having fun with one another at this point, throwing in jokes about the Asari sisters pasts and Ty's last "expedition" with the "friendly bartender" as Valera and Tara called it about a month ago._

_ Ty and Tara had an on and off again relationship due to neither one being able to summon the courage up to tell the other how they actually felt about one another but at this point they were together, Ty and Darian pushed themselves to their feet and Ty said "Biotics are so cheating." "You never used to complain about my biotics Ty." Tara said with a smirk. "That's because you didn't toss him around." Valera said with a smile coming on. "I don't know Valera, I heard that Tara was into some kinky things and she might have used some of it on Ty." Darian said. That prompted a biotic push hitting Darian but this time he was ready and put up a biotic shield to stop himself from flying. "Throwing us isn't a good defense, yea she was dressed like a stripper and yea she liked to dance but so did you two." Ty said._

_ Ty couldn't remember how he quick he went from standing to being on his chest again but he did know it hurt, "You had that coming Ty." Darian said from a distance. "You are supposed to be on my side Darian!" Ty yelled from the floor. Tara suddenly came into view as Ty stared at the ceiling and straddled his chest, "I thought I was on your side." Tara said with mischief in her eyes. "I've seen this before, Valera lets go tell the crew that Tara and Ty are going to be "preoccupied" for the next few hours, bring us into the Citadel while we wait for these two." Darian said followed by his footsteps. "Aye aye, have fun you two." Valera said with a laugh coming on. For some reason Ty figured he didn't have much choice in the matter._

* * *

Thirty minutes later and a good memory relived later Ty heard the sound of the hydraulic doors opening, he had just come out of the memory only a few minutes ago and when he looked over at the doors he saw Tali standing there so he sat up and said "Hey Tali looks like you got a round trip ticket to hell and back too, welcome to the new Normandy." Tali's silence was telling Ty her jaw was wide open in shock.

**A/N: Hey thanks for reading and sticking with me thus far and giving me over 3,000 views in the nearly two months I have been posting this, I never thought I'd get above a hundred so thank you to all you readers out there checking in and reading these chapters as I post them and a thank you to all the favorites, followers and commenters. You make this self professed nerd smile so thank you, I will see you next time.**


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Tali'Zorah vas Neema

It took a few seconds for Tali to break from her shocked state; Ty didn't blame her for being shocked at seeing him. The last she knew he was going to find Haley and he wasn't going to be employed by Shepard to help her, hell she didn't even know Shepard was alive at the time though she was only moments away from finding out after Ty left but Ty ever being recruited by a Alliance soldier with the help of Cerberus to fight off a galactic threat? Ty wouldn't have believed it if anyone ever told him it and he knew that Tali probably had blinked more than a few times to see if she was just imagining him there. Tali and Ty had history with one another because of one commonality and that was Ka'Reena. Ka'Reena looked at Tali as the younger sister she never had and when Ty and Ka'Reena began to become more serious Tali insisted to Ka'Reena that she was allowed to meet him through a vid-comm so she could give her judgment on it.

Knowing Tali as he did now he knew that she had probably been really prepared to be serious with him and judge him but when they met over the vid-comm she became the shy, nervous young Quarian she was at the time. After helping Tali break out of her nervousness they hit it off and became nearly instant friends. After Ka'Reena was murdered Ty made himself believe that she wanted nothing to do with him because he had been so full of guilt and pain after her death that he figured Tali blamed him, he blamed himself so why wouldn't she was his thought pattern. After being reunited by accident due to Ty hiding on the ship she happened to be on Ty had remained in contact with her as they began to re-forge their friendship. Aside from the obvious regrets Ty held of wishing he had saved his crew and Ka'Reena there wasn't much he regretted but one thing he did regret was breaking off contact with Tali, he should have been there for her as a friend since Ka'Reena had been close to her but he didn't. He couldn't change that choice but he was being given his second chance and he was not going to waste it.

Tali began to walk towards Doctor Chakwas as she said in a shocked tone, "Ty, Doctor Chakwas what are you two doing here?" "The spirits have a strange sense of humor, a little bit twisted if you ask me but that only supports my claim that my friends are still following me around." Ty said with a smirk. "You have yourself to blame for that one then Ty, you taught them that sick sense of humor." Tali said with humor in her tone. "No they were sick and twisted when I met them, I just…." Ty trailed off trying figure out a comeback when Tali decided to jump back in, "Made it worse." "Eh…Well…Alright damn it you win I take full credit for making those bastards more fun." Chakwas chuckled slightly while Tali giggled to herself, "I'm here for the Commander, it is nice to see you Tali." Chakwas said. Tali gave Chakwas a friendly hug and as she let go she said "It's nice to see you too doctor."

Tali looked back over at Ty and through being with Ka'Reena and seeing Tali the times he had he began to pick up on Quarian body language and the signs he was reading from her were of curiosity. Why would he be here was most likely a prominent question in her mind, he had spent his teenage years from fifteen and until only short time ago hunting the people who stole his friends and Ka'Reena from him. He had history against both Cerberus and the Alliance and just a general hatred for the both of them so why would he suddenly no longer be hunting the Suns and join a ship flying the colors of people he despised and with the legendary Commander Shepard who was an Alliance woman. Not to mention he also had told her he was on a mission to save a friend, something she knew he'd never abandon unless death took him.

Tali walked over to his bed, which was the second one down, and asked "Ty I thought you were on your own mission?" Ty readjusted himself so he was sitting on the edge so he was in front of her, Tali gave him a friendly hug which he reciprocated, she held him tightly as she rested her mask on his shoulder. She released him after a few seconds and then looked at him for answers, it was a long story but he could spare the time for a shortened version since he didn't have much to do anyways and the long version would prevent her from getting to work on the engines, which Ty knew she was dying to get her hands on again. "Well I was but…I hit a complication." Ty started. Chakwas chuckled softly before she said "I didn't know a near death incident was just a "complication" Ty."

Ty rubbed the back of his head as Tali went from looking at Chakwas back to him with a stare that penetrated through her mask, many found it hard to see Quarian faces behind the masks but from Ty's experience stone cold stares always made it through. "Ty?" Tali asked in a way that meant he was about to have to spill his guts if he didn't want to face her wrath. _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, I face near death odds with ease but I'm scared of a woman's rage, I don't know if that makes me smart or if that makes me weirder than I already am_, Ty thought.

Ty let his hand drop and proceeded to spill his guts, "It was for a good cause I assure you." Chakwas interrupted one last time, "I hope you don't make a habit of being impaled on a wall for good causes Ty." "What?!" Tali yelped. Ty looked over at Doctor Chakwas and said "Aw come on Doctor Chakwas admit it you enjoy the thorough surgeries on me." Chakwas gave a hearty chuckle with a shake of her head before Ty looked back at Tali and said "On Omega we were recruiting Garrus and I took a carnage blast from the Bloodpack leader to save Miranda Lawson who if you haven't met I'm sure you will soon, and then because I was with only the use of one arm I got my ass kicked by a Blue Sun when Shepard saved me but then Tarak launched a missile from his gunship at me and Shepard. I chose in that short time frame that her life was worth more than mine and pushed her out of the way before shooting the missile while it was flying at me…I ended up as a decoration on a wall because I happened to hit a spike that impaled me and held me up." "Keelah Ty." Tali gasped. "Eh it wasn't that bad, a little bit of cybernetics and I was good as new." Ty said with a shrug. "Cybernetics?" Tali asked.

Ty nodded and said "That's what I'm told, after that though while I was waiting for Aria to get back to me on finding my friend I joined this rag tag crew of miscreants and hopped on the Galaxy saving adventure we are on then I saved my friend and loss a head-butting contest to our resident Krogan which is how I achieved this." Ty pointed at his bandaged forehead and Tali chuckled and said "Seems like your doing about the same as usual."

Tali touched his right arm but took it back quickly which Ty just chuckled at her, she obviously was curious to the tech behind his remarkable recovery, "Go ahead Tali I don't bite, too hard." Ty said. "That's not what Ka'Reena told me." Tali said sarcastically which Ty just gave a light laugh to since it was funny. Ty held his right hand out and said "Short notice repairs but still good work none the less." Tali intrigued by the engineering behind his new arm started feeling up his arm pushing down on it feeling the cybernetics where his bones and tendons would be like when Miranda tested his arm after he woke up. "Keelah Ty the fact you survived is incredible, you said your whole entire arm was repaired?" Tali asked feeling up his bicep.

Ty chuckled a little, any other person he would have made a comment about them feeling up his arm but Tali would be flustered so easily and despite seeing Tali flustered being funny he decided to let Tali go a few moments without him making her feel embarrassed. "Yea and my right lung and ten of the twelve ribs I have, not bad for one accident and saving a life." Tali laughed a little as she stopped and said "You always had a way of hurting yourself for others." Ty shrugged with a smirk and said "True but still scars are what makes us who we are." Tali nodded slightly as she let go of his arm, "Aside from physically being hurt how have you been? You seem different compared to the last time we really talked?" Tali asked. _Really talked, that had to be the year Shepard was killed,_ Ty thought. He felt different, his dark cloud of revenge had clouded everything but now that it was dissipating things were beginning to change in him. "I'm better, or at least I'm getting better as the days go by now. Shepard's helped some but what about you? How you been and how'd finding that Quarian go?" Ty asked.

Tali sighed a little, _not good by the sound of that,_ Ty thought. "We found Veetor but Prazza that Bosh'tet got his squad decimated by an YMIR mech, and then on this mission I lost a lot of my friends because of some data on a star." _Damn Quarian politicians for sending their people to do dangerous missions, what the fuck is wrong with peace why does it gotta be war? Your lives are fragile as it is sending them to battle is just a quick way to get them killed_, Ty thought. "I'm sorry." Ty said sincerely. Tali waved him off, "Don't be it wasn't your fault, how's your family?" Tali asked changing the subject. "Back together now, Darian is still bartending and my brother and dad are taking a well deserved break from hunting the Suns. I have a picture of them in my room that I will have to show you but since I'm confined to bed rest it'll have to wait, how's seeing Shepard again been?" Ty asked.

Tali nodded sharply and said "Good, it's a little weird since…well she died but I'm just happy she is alive and still Shepard, she's like an older sister to me." _Only if Kaiden had been the same way, maybe he's come around, I hope he did for her sake_, Ty thought. "Cerberus is my only worry though after what they did." Tali said. Ty nodded knowing fully of what she spoke of, Cerberus attacking the Idenna didn't get past Ty and he nearly had launched his own attack on Cerberus for doing it. That was just another reason that he wanted to kill those who wore that insignia, well present company excluded…for now. "Don't worry about them we'll be ready for the betrayal, none of us non-Cerberus members trust them but we trust Shepard and that's what counts." Tali nodded and said "True, I probably should go down and check the engines out so I can familiarize myself with them."

Ty chuckled and shook his head, _that's Tali for you always the mechanic but if she wasn't like that then I'd be worried that something bad happened_. Ty waved her to go and said "Go ahead Tali don't let me stop you." Tali gave him a friendly hug which he returned and she said "See you later Ty." "Count on it." Ty replied. Ty watched her walk away as he began moving himself back onto the bed so he was comfortably laying against the pillows, as she reached the doors she stopped making Ty raise and eyebrow as she turned around, "Did you kill-" Ty interrupted her knowing what she was going to ask and said "Yea but I'll explain another time, those engines won't tend themselves you know." Tali giggled a little and said "Okay bye Ty." "See ya Tali." Ty said as she walked out.

A few moments of silence passed letting Ty relax himself a little more, it was good to see Tali again and it was going to be nice to be seeing her for the duration of this mission. Ty felt his mind slip into another memory as his vision of the med-bay slightly dulled and he saw Ka'Reena laying next to him looking at him, he knew the memory before she spoke but since he could still see the Med-Bay it felt weird seeing Ka'Reena there like she was still alive, _"If anything ever happens to me could you please watch over Tali?" Ka'Reena asked. Ty nodded and said "For you I'll be the shadow at her back but nothing is going to happen to you while I'm still breathing." Ka'Reena leaned the front of her mask against Ty's forehead, she left it there for a moment with her eyes piercing through her blue visor into Ty's purple eyes, "I love you Ty." Ka'Reena said. "I know, it's hard not to love me." Ty joked. "Bosh'tet." Ka'Reena said with a laugh coming on. "That I am but I am your Bosh'tet and nothing will ever change that." Ty said. Ka'Reena backed her head up slightly as Ty placed his hand on her mask like he was cupping her cheek, "I love you Ka'Reena." Ty said in a loving tone. "I am yours Ty, forever." Ka'Reena said with the same tone._

It took a lot of will power to not do the movements himself since it felt nearly real like Ka'Reena was still alive and there with him but Ty let the memory fade from his mind when he saw Chakwas look over at him, that was a memory that he wished to be lost in but he couldn't lose himself in the memory while there were things in the present still needing to be done, namely saving the Galaxy. _I failed to see that promise through but that will not happen again_, Ty thought. "How do you know Tali?" Chakwas asked. "She was Ka'Reena's best friend growing up though Ka'Reena was older than her but they were really close, after being with me for a while she had me meet Tali over vid-comm. Tali was three or four years away from pilgrimage and meeting Shepard but she hasn't changed at all except her enviro-suit, she was really nervous when me and her first talked but after a while she got used to me and my personality. After Ka'Reena died I gave the body back to the Ryya than broke contact 'cause…I thought it was best though looking back now I don't. Hindsight always in 20/20." Ty said.

Ty stopped to give Chakwas a minute to absorb all the details and when she gave him a nod to continue he did "So when she was returning from her pilgrimage I was on the run from some Suns who had been chasing me and I hacked the ships cargo hold and hid down there evading them and disappearing for a day, what I didn't know was I was about to be held prisoner for invading a Quarian vessel and interrogated. I was compliant so they didn't torture me but the interrogator happened to be Tali." Ty said.

As Ty mentioned Tali being his interrogator the doors to the med-bay opened and Shepard came walking in wearing her usual blue wifebeater, black jeans and shoes and holding a folded up Avenger. Her tribal shoulder tattoo gleamed when the light of the med-bay hit it and so did her sapphire eyes but Ty saw a look of confusion swarm her face as she asked, "Whoa Tali interrogated you? When did this happen?" After the confusion washed away a smirk made its way to her face, "Two years ago, a few months after you got spaced Tali was returning from her pilgrimage and I happened to hop on her ship without her knowing." Ty said. "Okay I want to hear all the details I missed but before that what do you want with all these guns that Grunt and Garrus grabbed?" Shepard asked. _Wonder how many they picked up_, Ty thought. "A science experiment, did you guys put them in the cargo hold except that one?" Ty asked.

Shepard nodded and brought it over to him and sat it down on his bed than said "Grunt insisted I give you this so you could make him his new gun first, he said something about "flaying his enemies alive" and you would figure it out." Ty couldn't help but imagine Grunt hopping up and down like a kid in a candy store insisting to get something which made him laugh a little, "Okay I just hope he knows it'll take me more than a day." Ty said. Shepard sat down on the bed next to his with her legs hanging over and asked "So what happened I want to hear this one from the beginning?"

Ty went through all the details he had already told Chakwas about him, Ka'Reena and Tali and was back on track where he was before, "So I had figured out it was a Quarian vessel and made sure to cover my face with my mask and took the precautions so I didn't contaminate anything but when I was sleeping apparently a curious Quarian came down to check something in the cargo hold and found little ol me sleeping…shit nothing like waking up to a gun hitting you in the forehead than having that same gun aimed between your eyes, I actually thought I was gonna die." Ty said. In all his injuries he never once considered death except for when he got impaled on Omega but no matter how bad it was he always figured he'd come back but seeing a gun in his face made him think he was going to die, he thought of it as a very anticlimactic death. "I'm surprised they didn't put you in the nearest air lock and open it." Shepard said with a smirk.

Ty nodded in agreement but he had heard them discussing it and was already attempting his escape at that point, hearing air lock made him work faster, "You're telling me, but they didn't and I was sent into basically a cell for lack of a better term and the Quarian that found me started asking me questions like, what was I doing, why was I here, was I a threat? My answers were, catching some shut eye, hiding from my pursuers and I wasn't a threat as long as they didn't point a gun at me again."

Shepard shook her head with a smile and Chakwas was doing the same so Ty said "What it was true." "You're lucky they didn't kill you but continue." Shepard said. "So as they were deciding what to do with me I thought the interrogating Quarian looked sort of familiar but I had run into more than two so I wasn't sure so I asked her and lo and behold my answer was "Tali'Zorah nar Ryya you Bosh'tet". My jaw dropped behind my mask and I said "Tali is that you." She immediately dismissed my claim of knowing her but I responded with "Tali it's me Ty what the hell are you doing here." Ty said imitating himself and Tali.

Ty stopped letting the details be absorbed than when they were ready he continued "She was shocked at the revelation since we hadn't seen each other in years so she still didn't believe me so when I started talking about Ka'Reena she immediately knew it was me and released me only to slap me along the head for breaking contact and for infiltrating the ship so then I revealed everything that had happened in the past months and why I ended up on the ship. She informed me that she finished her pilgrimage after helping a commander and her crew save the galaxy from Saren and the Reapers but said the Commander was killed a couple months before hand and she was on her way back to the flotilla with her gift. We exchanged a few pleasantries I told her I was happy for her doing everything she did and then I asked if I could leave without being killed so she could completely finish her pilgrimage. She let me but not before slapping me, punching me and giving me a hug and warning me if I broke contact again she'd shoot me with her shotgun."

It was funny looking back at it now the pure luck of it being her and the fact that she hit him with not only her hand but her pistol, Garrus had thought that part hilarious when Ty had told him and so did Ty. Shepard chuckled a little and smiled which Ty figured was because of her headache that he knew she had since Chakwas was laughing a hearty laugh and Ty was a little since he was watching Shepard. "So did you keep contact?" Shepard asked.

Ty nodded and said "Yea once every few months until me and Tarak tore Omega apart than I disappeared onto the Cerberus facility, one time we met again before that because she had to go get something for the flotilla I couldn't tell you what I forgot that but it was on the Citadel and me, Darian, my dad, and my brother were all on there visiting and the three of us were finding some interesting things on a certain Blue Suns member who wanted to try and disappear when we literally ran into each other, I luckily caught her by the hand as she nearly hit the ground, she didn't have her new outfit yet but she had something new on maybe she didn't like it and switched to what she has now I don't know but I do know she was shocked to see me and my family walking around casually on the Citadel."

Fighting to save the people who lived on the Citadel should have wiped the slate clean and repaired their family name but as normal no one except those who they came in contact with knew what they did. Shepard nodded and asked "I've been meaning to ask you the same thing, how do you get through scans with guns?" Ty rubbed the back of his neck, he had never told anyone this because it was supposed to be a deal between his family and the Captain but he figured Shepard wouldn't rat the Captain out and if she did Bailey was safe, his dad made sure of that. No one who helped them could be traced back to them, "My dad knows a C-Sec guy named Bailey and they're friends, he gets us through the scans clean without C-Sec or the Alliance knowing. As far as getting busted like me and Kar did we move quickly so are names are not recorded with many tricks of our trade."

Shepard was about to ask something but she stopped and a little bit of pain struck across her face_, her headache isn't getting any better, shit I hope EDI or Miranda come up with something._ "You okay Shepard?" Ty asked. Shepard nodded and said "Yea I'm fine, I'm going to go check up on some of the other crew than call it a night, see you two tomorrow." Shepard got up and left quickly trying to hide the pain but Ty and Chakwas knew what was up and as soon as the coast was clear Ty said "This doesn't look good, EDI did Shepard's brain activity spike just now?" EDI popped up on the med-bay station and said "It was quick but yes it did she managed to stop her biotics from flaring up as well." _Damn your stubbornness Shepard, huh feels weird being the one to say that, I'm sure she is used to saying it about me though_, Ty thought. "EDI keep a close eye on her I've got a bad feeling about this." Ty said. "Yes Ty." EDI said than disappeared.

Two Hours Later

It was getting closer to "night" on the ship and Chakwas looked exhausted while Ty was stripping and cleaning the Avenger as he sat on his bed completely awake, _she needs her sleep if something happens and stims won't be good,_ Ty thought_. Losing sleep to stims doesn't help anyone, funny coming from me who sleeps only five to seven hours_. "Hey doc take a break for a little while, Shepard's fine right now and if something does happen you need to have some rest." Ty said from his bed. "I know but I need to find out what the problem is before something bad happens. Miss Lawson isn't getting through to the Illusive Man about the traitor, she says that he said he searched the file and found nothing that would cause concern." Chakwas said.

Ty stopped cleaning the gun and said "That doesn't sound shady at all." "I agree and so does Miranda, she feels that he is stonewalling her but she is still trying to get it though_." Fuck protocol I can hack any file and I know how to hack Cerberus files, hell I did it for two months and never got caught…well sort of_. "How about this you and me switch you lie down and rest while I look for something that may be causing this. I'll hack into Cerberus files on my omni-tool so I don't have to get up or see any of Shepard's personal files and see if maybe the traitor could've done something since I don't give a damn about Cerberus protocol, working yourself to death isn't going to help anyone." Ty said.

Chakwas seemed to consider it than she nodded and said "Okay I'll take a break." "Doc you of all people need to take breaks when needed, you're the only doctor we have in the field of purely medicine and helping the wounded if you aren't on you're A game then we all suffer. Its not a crime to take breaks." Ty said putting the gun piece down that he was cleaning. Chakwas nodded and left the room to get something to eat and drink and Ty pulled up his omni-tool and started hacking into the Cerberus data base and looking for the traitor's name, _time to work my magic on Cerberus._

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, I had planned to get this out yesterday but I fell asleep and woke up with the computer still in my lap so I decided it was best to wait until morning. Kind of a short chapter/interlude but next chapter picks up the pace once again for…reasons…..A thank you to both cainchaos and FORD B for the reviews, I'm glad you are enjoying the story and reviews are always nice to see so I know how you enjoy the chapters or if you have any questions. I'll throw a short disclaimer here and say that I don't own Mass Effect since that belongs to Bioware/E/A though I do stake claim in Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe. Thanks for reading and I will see you next time.**


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Long Night

In took three hours to find the name of the traitor, Wilson, and start to even uncover any data around him and so far most of it was completely useless. Ty enjoyed the thrill of the hunt though, sifting through information trying to crack the code, or in this case looking for any hint that this guy had something to do with what was happening to Shepard. Breaking codes and finding information had been something that Ty took a liking to ever since he learned how to do it, things were much easier now since his hacking programs made quick work of everything no matter how restricted they were but stealing information was a fun past time no matter how easy it was. The Med-Bay was still empty aside from Ty being the lone figure in it, Chakwas was still taking her break which was good in Ty's opinion because that meant she was going to be more alert just in case something bad really did happen.

It was a bit odd seeing the Normandy at this time though since mostly everyone was asleep except for a few crew members that Ty didn't know by name. Ty didn't pay mind to them though his eyes were filled with the glowing of his omni-tool and all the information it brought up into his sights with a multitude of colors to signify the different files opened ranging from purple to blue to a regular orange. His eyes read each word, every miniscule detail did not get pass him, if Ty's gut was right and this guy caused this problem he would not escape Ty's eyes.

Though Ty was enjoying the hunt for information the only problem he encountered was that Wilsons file was a slow read, it was as if this guy wanted Ty to beat his own head against a wall while he read his file and the worse part of it all was that nothing really shot out and said this could cause a problem. So far all it had been was his upbringing, why he joined Cerberus, or why he hated aliens. The guy had no reason to hate aliens other than just xenophobia which was a completely ridiculous reason that Ty couldn't believe would make someone qualified for a job but seeing as it was Cerberus and they were a Pro-Human organization it made sense. Unfortunately for Ty his gut guided him and his gut told him that dismissing it completely would be stupid so Ty forced himself to continue reading though it was getting extremely boring.

There was something fishy about what the Illusive Man said though, well everything that came out of that man's mouth was always twisted and only partial truths or just a small amount of information, it was a wonder how Miranda and Jacob had worked so long for him. Ty had nothing really against Jacob except for the fact he worked for an egomaniacal psycho who hated aliens, he hadn't taken the time to talk to the man that often or really since he got on board but Ty had read enough about him and in the short amount of time they saw each other from tossing Ty around with his biotics to working together and he didn't seem like a hater of aliens or an at all costs kind of guy. Hell he worked for the Alliance and did some good work but got swept under the rug so Ty couldn't figure out why he would work with the Illusive Man of all people.

Miranda was another conundrum of Ty's, he knew a lot more about her then he had let on and more than Miranda thought he knew so he knew her reasoning for joining Cerberus and how they helped her but how could she not see the messed up things the Illusive Man had ordered and just justify it. She wasn't stupid, she was a smart person but here she was working for Cerberus, one of the most messed up ideals in the Galaxy and that was saying something since Ty had met the Mad Prophet on Omega and he rated really high on Ty's messed up ideal scale.

Ty shook the thoughts from his mind, he couldn't let his thoughts distract him right now, if those two wanted to work for Cerberus that was their own deal but he wasn't going to sit by and listen to the Illusive Man's half truths and bullshit on this traitor. Traitors always have more planned then they show or are able to do, that is why they are traitors. They are cunning and deceptive people who should not ever be overlooked and either the Illusive Man was hiding something from Miranda that Ty didn't care about or he was as ignorant as Ty thought, which was a hard toss up. _He would have had back up plans, failsafe's in case his initial plan failed, he would know Miranda would save Shepard no matter what and if he lived to tell the tale without them knowing he wouldn't risk shooting her, he would be the prime suspect,_ Ty thought. His mind began looking at every angle of this man's plan, _Shepard waking up must have stuck a knife in his initial plan, what could he do to knock her out or kill her without anyone knowing…Could he plant a bomb in her mind? They can't be too hard to come by and that facility had a lot of tech, but would he risk Miranda noticing? _

There were so many possibilities that Ty couldn't see that this Wilson guy could be attacking from, _like a viper coiling up getting ready to strike._ Ty shook slightly at his own comparison, he hated those slithery creatures. Ty shut down one of his screens finding no useful information and pulled the blue screen from the side and into his view. _A list of all the specialties of those on that facility, wow and they are all deceased except Miranda and Jacob, you really know how to keep your people safe Illusive Man, go you. Let's see Wilson, Wilson, Wilson, where the hell is this guy? Wilson? Worked with Miranda on Project Lazarus, I think this is the right guy. Specialties aside from being a traitor? Hmm…Oh wow he was handpicked for the Lazarus project because of his training in memory rebuilding that is pretty interesting but…oh shit…Fucking A Illusive Man you are fucking ignorant! You put this guy on the rebuild squad and he also specialized in memory wiping! And you didn't pass credits his way when you knew he was a stingy motherfucker! _

Ty had found it and whether or not the Illusive Man knew this side information right this second was beyond him but if he did Ty was personally going to whip up that QEC and reach through to rip that dumb bastards head off. "EDI how's the commander?" Ty asked as he pulled more specifics on Wilson's training. "She's had seven spikes in the last three minutes and is now awake pacing in her room." EDI answered. _You have got to be kidding me, seven in three minutes? Oh this is gonna be really bad_. "I think I found a lead, forward a message to Miranda and tell her that you found something interesting in Wilsons file but you need her to look into Wilsons training right now, it is the only unrestricted thing she can get into. Oh and be sure to wake the doc up I think we're in for one hell of a night."

Of all the gut feelings Ty had he hated the bad gut feelings he had, the ones that told him that danger was just around the corner. He could feel his heart beat quickening at the possibilities of a memory wipe, who would take charge of saving the colonies from the Collectors and then get the entire Galaxy to unite to fight the Reapers. None of them could, only Shepard could and this Wilson guy was going to get them all killed. Shepard was in so much danger right now and she didn't really know it, or maybe she had the same gut feeling Ty had but was trying to figure it out on her own. He was worried, more worried than he ever thought he would be about someone from the Alliance.

Ty scowled slightly at himself, yeah she worked with the Alliance but she wasn't the Alliance, she was Shepard and that was a huge difference. She was becoming a good friend, someone worthy of his worry and someone who had taken the time to get to know him despite her ties to the people who out casted him. "Message sent, what do you think the problem is?" EDI asked. "Research memory wiping and how quick it takes once activated, I think Wilson booby trapped the Commanders mind to a specific sight or smell or something that would act as the trigger. How long has she had the flares?" Ty asked as he continued searching for anything else he might have missed. "There was one when she returned from Horizon after she found you knocked out down in engineering." EDI answered.

_Horizon, shit that's where we met Kaiden, seeing her old flame or something to do with him must have been the trigger, shit, shit, shit._ "EDI how's compiling data on memory wiping going?" Ty asked as worry worked its way into his tone and began reaching out to his body. "My data mining takes time but I have sufficient enough information in case there's an emergency." EDI stated. _In case? No this is for certain now, this is about to be the worst case scenario added with some Thresher Maw for icing and a Reaper as the candle to the cake bomb_. Ty heard his stomach growl, _yeah shut up stomach this isn't the time to be hungry this is about to be a shit storm so you're gonna wait,_ Ty directed at his stomach. Before Ty could voice his next question EDI spoke "Shepard has collapsed, brain activity is dangerously high I believe memory wipe has begun."

_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!_ Ty yelled inside of his head. He couldn't do anything though not because he was bed rested, he didn't give a damn about that, he couldn't do anything because he wasn't of a scientific mind or a doctor. All he could do is get in the way and that meant he couldn't help save the person who had ordered bringing him back to life and someone who had done a lot to help him whether she knew or not. He forced himself to calm down, he needed to remain calm, losing your cool under pressure would get someone killed or more specifically Shepard in this case. "Get Miranda and Chakwas up there now; do you know how to stop it or how long it takes?" Ty asked. "Yes but I cannot help her myself." EDI answered. Ty couldn't tell if that was supposed to be a joke or not, he knew she physically couldn't help so maybe it was intended as a joke. He wasn't sure so he continued on his orders, "Get Miranda and Chakwas and go to Shepard's quarters EDI, there's nothing I can do from here except get the elevator going down so get those two moving now." Ty ordered.

EDI disappeared and Ty opened up his hacking program and found the elevators circuitry and hacked it_, maybe I should add some extra speed to it_, he shook his head at his thoughts. This was not the time to screw with the elevator speed since if he did screw it up Shepard would be joining the Spirits of the fallen. Miranda and Chakwas went running from where they were to the elevator and now all Ty could do was sit, wait, and hope. He felt useless, he hoped everything would work out and he would see Shepard on her feet again with that stupid grin and her sapphire eyes that were full of so much life, a life that shouldn't be cut short. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about her but he didn't allow the thoughts to linger, they were more than likely just his protective thoughts over a friend and he wouldn't allow them to trouble him when he could do nothing. Ty picked up a piece of the gun and continued where he had left off.

The gun was cleaned and was ready for Ty to start doing more on when he got the chance but he kept cleaning it to pass the time and keep his mind preoccupied. He couldn't let his thoughts drift to Shepard, the thoughts would begin to eat at him and he would begin to dwell on his inability to help. He didn't want to do that so he just let his mind focus on the gun, the way it was, the way the pieces felt and the weight they had. He wondered if the reason he liked his sniper rifle so much was the same reason Zaeed loved Jessie so much.

All guns, even guns of the same make, had a certain feel to them, kind of like a different heart beat. When Ty was behind his scope the way his Viper felt in his hands made him feel invincible though he knew how wrong that statement was based on his own injuries over the years. The heartbeat in his hands reverberated through the gun making it feel alive in his hands and nothing was able to touch him. He had the Viper for so many years now that it had become part of him and he would trade all the guns in the world for it to work if it ever broke. Ty smirked slightly to himself as he shook his head, now he was sounding like Zaeed, _"I'd trade all of my guns in for one last mission with that shitty old rifle." _

The sound of Zaeed's voice bounced around in his head making him laugh slightly allowing him to forget for a few moments that something bad was going on. Time passed by slowly but eventually an hour passed since Miranda and Chakwas went running to the elevator and since then there hadn't been a peep from EDI or movement outside the med-bay except for the occasional miscellaneous crew member getting something to eat or drink. Ty put the gun back together and set it back down on the bed and laid his head against the wall behind him, _Fuckin' A why did this have to happen when I can't do anything to help, I'm not even allowed to leave this room._ The thought processed through Ty's brain and then his stomach growled, _Fuck I'm hungry…What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I following orders? I can walk I should just take this gun and head to my room and sleep or get something to eat; I haven't eaten since…shit almost two weeks now. Fuck it I'm out of here I've been sitting on my ass way to long._

Ty grabbed the gun and got off the bed with his stomach growling at him, starvation was just around the corner but hearing his stomach growl was shocking, he usually ate at least more than a few days before this. He walked out of the room and put the gun on the table then went to the cabinets to find something to eat. There were some dextro snacks and some food that had to be cooked, _ew that sounds gross, probably what they call Rupert's surprise, hmm no that doesn't sound good…Ew regular ration paste…Oh my god is that…Holy shit it is ramen! Chicken flavor? Fuck yes that sounds so good right now. _He pulled out the bag of ramen and found a bowl then prepped and began cooking it.

After it finished cooking he grabbed a spoon and brought it to the table and sat down ready to indulge himself in his guilty pleasure of ramen, it wasn't a big bowl but it was enough to get him by for another two weeks. Either way he was hungry and he was going to enjoy it. His mind drifted back to Shepard and he felt his worry start again. He attempted to shake the worry from his mind, _I'm worrying way to much its Commander Shepard she survived Akuze, defeated Saren, helped defeat a Reaper and survived the destruction of the original Normandy, this is small time compared to all those…but it still doesn't help its been an hour with no word._

As he was sitting there eating his ramen and failing at not thinking about Shepard he heard an unsteady walk behind him, "Aren't you supposed to be in the med-bay?" Joker asked. Ty looked back and saw Joker limping his way to the kitchen, Ty nodded at him and said "Hey Joker you getting a midnight snack or is your Fornax collection hidden down here." "Sarcastic ass." Joker said as he got to the fridge. "I try." Ty said than continued eating his ramen.

Joker limped over with a plate of food and sat across from Ty and started eating, Joker looked up at Ty and asked "So any word on Shepard?" Ty looked up from the table and asked "How do you know about that?" "EDI, apparently it's useful for something." Joker said. Ty smirked and shook his head than said "You'll like her eventually but no I haven't heard anything, what about you?" Joker shook his head and said "Not a peep, she'll be fine she's survived worse." Ty nodded and said "True." "I've been meaning to ask you, how do you know about my…collection?" Joker asked awkwardly. Ty smirked, he actually didn't know about it, it had just been a joke, "Don't worry about it Joker I haven't found it I just know about it and that's all you need to know. When you guys were going to take out Saren why was Shepard getting headaches originally?" Ty asked.

Joker took a bite of his food than as he finished chewing and swallowing it he said "I usually don't talk about Shepard to others but she seems to trust you like she does me, Garrus and Tali so I guess I can talk to you, you know about her and the Akuze incident right?" Ty nodded, everyone who knew about Shepard knew about Akuze and the Thresher Maws killing her whole squad. Ty continued eating his ramen as Joker began to explain, "Well you can only imagine how that affects someone mentally, it took her a while to get over it originally but when she found Corporal Toombs who was part of her squad, he killed himself because of what he went through after killing all the doctors that put him through it. That's when her original headaches started, Chakwas told me it was something like a PTSD but not as severe, after Saren and Sovereign were killed she stopped taking the pills Chakwas subscribed and she was fine, well as fine as Shepard can be."

Ty nodded with a smile, she was one tough woman that was sure. Not many people could go through what she did and come out the other side still ready for more. Joker took a bite of his food than Ty asked "Do you think that seeing Kaiden again on Horizon is what started her headaches and triggered whatever the hell is going on?" Joker shrugged and said "I haven't got a clue, that's not my field of expertise. Maybe it's something to do with the Collectors taking that colony. I got no idea but she'll pull through she always does and if she doesn't than the Reapers are going to kill us all."

Ty swallowed his noodles quickly making himself choke slightly before he began laughing through the choking, after he stopped laughing he said "Listen to you Mr. Positivity." "Hey if that happens I've got the Normandy and I plan on getting the hell out of here, you could stay or go." Joker said. Ty smirked as his eyebrows rose in amusement, "And you think you'll be able to hide from the Reapers in this ship, it's not as small as the old Normandy and the Reapers are very thorough." Ty said with his smirk. Joker frowned in defeat and said "Not to mention an A.I. that would probably claim to be the vanguard of my destruction." Ty started chuckling at the comment and said "C'mon give EDI a break she's not all bad, she helped me out and probably saved Shepard's ass right now." "It seems to think it was your idea." Joker said looking up from his food.

Ty grabbed his now empty bowl with a satisfied stomach and stood up to go wash it all; as he walked away he said "I don't know what you're talking about." Joker chuckled and said "Sure you don't, c'mon Ty we both know you hacked Cerberus files to find out about that Wilson guy and his training in memory wiping." Ty sighed as he began washing his bowl and spoon, he didn't want recognition for anything that's why he told EDI to tell Miranda that she had found it out not him.

Not to mention there would more than likely be repercussions for hacking Cerberus files, the Illusive Man probably was triangulating the hack to Ty as he stood there. Ty didn't take the time to cover his tracks; there wasn't much point in his mind since he was doing it for a damn good reason. "Just keep it between us than, I don't need Miranda on my ass about it." Ty said. "Don't worry, as long as the A.I. doesn't rat you out she wont know, besides Miranda probably wouldn't care. With all the rules you've broken I'm surprised she hasn't had you report to the Illusive man." Joker said. If she did she and the Illusive Man would both regret it, he had a few choice words for that "man" if you could call him that. "Don't curse me Joker, just do me a favor and don't tell anyone including Shepard okay? I don't need the attention for it." Ty said.

Joker nodded and continued eating his food, Ty's hunger subsided but he still felt like he had enough room for a snack so he found a bag of chips and walked back to the table and sat down, as he was about to open the bag his ears caught the sound of two pairs of footsteps plus the dragging of another's feet. Ty looked up and Joker looked behind him and they saw Miranda and Chakwas both with one of Shepard's arms over there shoulders dragging her to the med-bay, "Told you she'd be fine." Joker said. Ty nodded and said "Yea but I'm probably about to be told to go lay down in the med-bay again." "Yea that's true, Miranda will probably be out here to scold you any second now." Joker said starting to eat his food again. Ty passed the bag of chips to Joker and said "Here have these I'm not that hungry anyway." Joker nodded and finished up his meal and opened the bag of chips, "Ty can I talk to you in here?" Miranda asked.

Ty got up and grabbed the Avenger and said "See ya later Joker." "Don't hit your head on anything." Joker replied back sarcastically. Ty flipped him off over his shoulder with a smirk making its way to his face as he said "Don't break any bones brittle boy." "Asshole." Joker said as Ty got to the med-bay door. Ty walked in and saw Miranda and Chakwas, both looked mentally and physically exhausted from the events of the night so Ty knew he should tread carefully with Miranda, _no I told you so, not to much sarcasm she looks like she wants to rip someone's head off with her biotics, just be nice and stay cool, we can do that right?_ "So it looks like she had a hell of a hangover." Ty said plopping himself down on his bed. "Her memory was almost wiped but EDI managed to help us save her." Miranda said with a little of her ice queen edge. "Okay so what you need from me aside from giving you two a break. Seriously you two go catch some z's I can watch her if you want, I can go a day without sleep anyway." Ty said.

Miranda shook her head and said "No I need to make sure her memory is going to be intact, I should've noticed it before when I was still working on her she wouldn't have had this happen if I would've paid more attention." Ty rolled his eyes, _and I thought I liked to blame myself for things I couldn't control._ Ty looked over to Chakwas and asked "Chakwas is Shepard stable and going to be fine?" "Yes but when she wakes she'll need to stay here until we can run some more tests on her." Chakwas answered. Ty nodded and said "Okay go catch some z's I'll watch over Shepard, she'll be fine till morning plus I need to talk to Miranda alone." Chakwas nodded with a grateful smile and said "Thank you Ty." "No problem you earned a good nights rest." Ty said as he stood up. Chakwas left and Ty walked up to Miranda who was running her hand through her raven black hair as she was hammering away on Chakwas terminal, Ty put his hand on her shoulder and said "Go get some rest Miranda, that's not a request."

Miranda swatted away his hand and said "You're not my boss I'll work if I want to." Ty shook his head and sighed, he had really hoped she would have listened to him. Ty wasn't sure how well his new plan was going to work but she was tired, her body was shaking even, she wasn't going to be able to put up much of a fight. "I really hoped it wouldn't come to this but you are forcing my hand." Ty said. "Wha- Hey!" Miranda shouted as Ty picked her up out of the chair and threw her over his right shoulder. A smirk had already made its way to his face as he said, "Shepard will be fine till morning you need some rest so you can work at your full potential, I can watch over her since I'm supposed to be confined to bed rest, hell I'll even report to the Illusive Man if you want that way I can tell him how much of an ignorant jackass I think he is. You need rest and if I have to tie you down to your bed or knock you unconscious I will."

Miranda was slamming her hands into the right side of his back which didn't really faze him at all as he walked out the med-bay, he had her legs gripped well enough that she couldn't knee him or move all that much except for what she was doing though he wished he had gagged or knocked her out first due to her yelling at him, "Put me down dammit! I will kill you if you don't put me down right now Ty! I swear that you'll be dead by my hands if you continue carrying me!" Miranda shouted. Ty smirked at the empty threats, she was really too weak to do anything, she also seemed to be tapped out in the biotic department since she had yet to use them.

As he walked towards Joker he saw him putting his empty dish in the sink and his empty bag of chips in the trash, Jokers jaw dropped in a shock but he could see the sides of his mouth upturning into a smile, "Oh. My. God Ty. That…that's hilarious, hold on let me get a holo of that." Joker said while suppressing his laughs. "Don't you DARE Joker! I will crush every bone in your body with my biotics!" Miranda yelled. "On second thought maybe I wont, I'd like to, you know, survive so I can still fly my baby." Joker said still smiling. "Oh come on just one wont hurt." Ty said stopping in front of the kitchen counter.

Joker seemed to consider it but than said "Nah sorry Ty but I value my brittle life." "LET ME GO!" Miranda yelled loudly. Ty shook his head and said "Oh shush your gonna wake everyone up. EDI mind taking a recording or a holo of me and Miranda so we can show Shepard when she wakes up?" "EDI if you dar-" Ty interrupted Miranda and said "Don't listen to her EDI I wont let her do anything to you, Joker want in on this?" "Sure what the hell I can't get into to much trouble just by being in it." Joker answered limping over to Ty's left side. EDI popped up above the kitchen counter and asked "Would you like a recording or a holo?" "Take a holo it lasts longer." Joker answered. "Do both EDI, alright everyone smile like we actually like each other." Ty said with a big grin and wrapping his arm lightly around Jokers neck.

After a couple seconds EDI said "Done I will send them to you Ty when you have recovered completely from your injury." Ty let go of Joker and said "Thanks EDI, hey Joker where did Shepard want you to fly to next?" "Going to the Citadel to help Garrus out, we'll be there in two days. I figure we might get some shore leave with her injury after she helps Garrus." Joker said. Ty shrugged and felt Miranda's weight go up and down with his shoulder, she wasn't very happy about that but Ty said, "Beats me, don't know if Miranda would be too fond of that." "I am still on your shoulder and if you don't put me down right now I will tear you in half with my biotics!" Miranda raised her voice again.

Ty looked around and asked "Did you hear that, I swear I just heard Miranda's voice. It's like she's right here." Joker laughed and said "God you are so going to get it when you let her go, so where would you like your funeral and what do you want done with your stuff?" Ty titled his head up so he was looking up sideways at the ceiling acting like he was thinking hard on it than he said "Cremate me give me back to my family and run for your lives, give one tomahawk to them then give the other to Shepard, give Garrus my sniper, my pistols give to Jack and Tali. You can have my hoodie if you want Joker if not give it to Shepard to decide who to give it to, the picture in my room give to Shepard and the holo in there give to my family."

Joker gave him a curious look and asked "Are you serious?" Ty felt a chuckle come on as he said, "Well yea if I die on this mission than someone who will survive needs to know what to do with me and my stuff." "God dammit Ty PUT ME DOWN!" Miranda yelled starting to slam her hands into his back again. "There's that noise again I swear it's like Miranda is standing right here." Ty said looking around again.

Joker just smirked and shook his head, "I gotta get back up to the cockpit, and send me a copy of that holo and recording okay." "I will don't worry, if Shepard is still being held against her will in the med-bay aka bed-rest bring us into the Citadel and tell the crew to go on shore leave. I'll watch over all the trouble making guys like Grunt, Jack and myself." Ty said. "Who is giving you the authority to do this last time I checked I was-" Ty interrupted Miranda and said "Hung over my shoulder like a damsel in distress, you got all that Joker?"

Joker nodded and said "Yea I'll take care of it if Shepard's stuck in here; I'll see you later, unless you're dead than I won't be seeing much of anything from you." Ty waved him off and said "Don't worry I'll be fine, see ya Joker I gotta put the princess to bed." "I'll prepare your funeral." Joker said as he started limping away.

Ty smirked and rolled his eyes as he started walking over to Miranda's room while she was still thrashing about, Ty opened the door and walked around her desk and to her bed where he put her down gently and onto her back and said in a joking manor, "Now be a good girl and go to sleep otherwise I'll tie you down." Miranda attempted to stand up fast and punch Ty but he grabbed her arm as he side stepped her and said "Now if you weren't exhausted you probably would've hit that. Miranda go to sleep, trust me you need it." "I need to do work and find out if there's anything else that I can do to help Shepard, it was my fault that this happened. I should've been paying attention to sabotage of any sort." Miranda said losing a little of her edge but Ty kept her arm in his hand. "Do you really believe that?" Ty asked.

Miranda glared at him and said "I'm the project director and I was in charge of bringing her back without any issues, your damn right I believe it." Ty let go of her hand than she went for another punch that Ty caught right as it was about to hit his face, "Give yourself a break Miranda, you may be created to be perfect but your still human just like me, Shepard, Jack, Jacob, Kelly, Joker and any other human on this ship." Ty said bring her hand down but still holding her wrist. "That's none of your business." Miranda said through gritted teeth than she went for a punch with her other hand.

Ty caught it, he had enough of it so he pulled her in close to him so they were face to face and looked her dead in the eyes as he said in a stern tone "It wasn't your fault. It was that traitors fault. Now you can think that you're going to sit in here and blame yourself all you want but don't expect me to stay quiet. I don't give a shit if you were the project director or that you are the XO, those titles mean absolutely nothing to a person like me. You are fucking human Miranda, fuck what your father ever said about you needing to be better, fuck the Illusive Man making you feel that you need to push yourself harder, fuck everyone who ever thought that you should be held to a higher standard because of your genes and fuck your genes they aren't what make you who you are as a person."

Though Miranda was unaware at the time, well everyone on the ship was actually unaware except for Ty who had just found out himself but he had been created just like she was just with a few more additions. He held no resentment towards his father or his mother for their wish because that didn't change who they were to him or who he was to them, he was a Rhoddy through and through even if he and his brother were created inside a tube of some sort. Miranda tried to look away but Ty pulled her in closer so there bodies were touching forcing her to look him in the eyes which held hers with an angry stare as he said "I was created just like you were but I didn't know until my dad just told me, do you think I'm going to use that to shape me to be who I am for the rest of my life. Money may have bought you everything but it didn't make you who you are, fuck that genetic tailoring bullshit."

Ty stopped and let go of one of her hands than poked her right below her throat and continued "You decide who you become not your genes, your personality and what you do is what makes you the person you are not some rich fucking asshole who decided to play god. Now you can tell me to go fuck myself, call me an asshole and try to kick me off this mission but if you think for a god damn second I'm going to let you stay up all night blaming yourself for something you couldn't control and making yourself believe that you should have seen it coming or whatever because of your genes than you've mistaken me for some other follow the rules stick up the ass guy who doesn't speak his mind."

The years he had spent blaming himself for everything had been painful and knowing Miranda the way he did now she probably held every mistake she ever made against herself and that was also probably the reason she could be such a frigid bitch. Ty let go of her other hand and let her move her body off his as he continued his rant, "I've been blaming myself for the past nine years because I thought I could've done better for everyone I lost, that I should have done better for them because of how much they meant to me and you wanna know what all nine years have been like?" It was a rhetorical question but Ty paused as Miranda nodded slightly for him to continue "It's been life draining, it's been like being shot and then having someone sticking their finger in it, it's felt like no matter what the fuck I do I can't do a goddamned thing right and I'm never fucking good enough for anything. So in short all nine years have fucking sucked except for the short two years I was with Ka'Reena and all the short good times I had after that and those were few in number and scattered."

Miranda gave Ty a look that was between surprise and shock and a little bit of understanding, the first two were probably because she never expected to hear anything like this from him but Ty continued his rant "Every second, every minute, every day, week, month, and year have been a hell that never ends, from the time I wake and all the way into my sleep all it has been is a constant reminder of what I failed to do. The people I failed and how much pain it caused me, they always find their ways from the memories to come back into my mind no matter how hard I try to lock them away, like having a collapsed lung and every breath you take burning and wishing you to end your own life."

Miranda's look softened slightly at Ty, Ty didn't realize how much emotion he had flowing through him at the time and he wasn't sure how this all ended up coming out on her but had he been alone thinking of these things or with his family he would have more than likely broke down into tears. It hurt thinking of all the pain of losing his friends and then the self inflicted hell he put upon himself because he made himself believe it was his own fault. His comparison struck his own heart cord though he kept his unbreakable fortress on the outside, it was true though. He could never describe realistically what the pain felt like except for saying it was like having his heart ripped from his chest and stamped flat right in front of him but no one knew what that felt like unless they to felt it, a collapsed lung and the constant pain it brought with each breath was exactly what his life had felt like day in and day out.

It was different now, the pain wasn't as severe and the scars were scabbing over but they would never truly heal he knew that much, but he could find balance once again. "I can see it in your eyes Miranda, you blame yourself for every failure, every mistake, every single minute detail that never went according to plan and you continue to force yourself through this hell that you have created all because you think that because of your genes all your failures are what matter and none of your accomplishments, accomplishments that you do on your own that have nothing to do with your genes. I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you torture yourself for another god damn minute so sit your big round ass down get some fucking sleep and stop blaming yourself, got it."

Miranda's face was without the icy structure it usually came with, her usually icy blue orbs had become softer and full of emotion, emotions Ty had not seen in the woman though that was many emotions. She sighed in defeat as she sat down and rested her face into her hands not fighting back against Ty's rant, seeing that his work was done he started walking out since someone had to watch Shepard and he needed some time to himself anyway.

As he got to the door he stopped and looked back and saw Miranda still resting her face in her hands, _maybe I went a little over board, I didn't intend too but despite her icy exterior she is still a person under there, a person with feelings just like everyone else_. He decided he'd hit his rant home in a nicer way, "Miranda look at me." Ty said. Miranda looked up and Ty continued "You're a good person under all this icy bullshit you put up, I can see it though you hide it with walls and walls of unbreakable stone but you need to understand you're still human no less than anyone else. Your real personality is what makes you beautiful along with the looks though you try and hide that by acting like an ice queen. I can see the other side of you and I know you hate that I know of it but that's the real you and personally I like that side of you better. Take the rest of the night off; go to sleep, relax let your mind rest so when you have to work you're one hundred percent." "How do you know I won't use my terminal or my omni-tool?" Miranda asked.

Ty chuckled and waved his right arm at her computer as he activated his omni-tool with a locking hack locking it completely with his own code than he said "Easy I locked it with my own code and since you didn't notice I have quick hands." He had grabbed her and pulled her in mostly for the rant but he had also used it as a chance to remove a certain item, Miranda looked down at her right hand than caught on to what he said than she said "Damn you. Give me that back there is sensitive information on there." She was now without her omni-tool though Ty held no intention to go through it, he only removed it so she would sleep. "Don't worry about it princess I'm not going to look through it, I don't want to see your dirty pictures. Get some sleep Miranda I'll see you in the morning and if Shepard has any issues I'll get EDI to get you okay." Ty said. "Fine." Miranda sighed in defeat.

The doors opened and as he walked out he said "Remember Miranda you have the choice to either let your past define you and use it as a crutch or you can use it to make you stronger as a person, only you can decide what you become not me or anyone else, including your father." Ty himself was ready to stop letting his past failures be the only thing he remembered but for now he had to watch over Shepard.

**A/N: I always thought that it would have been kind of cool if Wilson had done something like this to Shepard in the game, you would have to get to the med-bay while your screen is all foggy and then Shepard would be knocked out for a day or two and either you would wake up after it was over and continue on after some dialogue with all the crew or you would end up playing as Garrus or someone else or they let you chose who you wanted to be for like a mission or two with a bunch of new story scenes and dialogue. Anyway my random ideas to the side, Thanks FORD B I'm happy you enjoyed the last chapter. I honestly wasn't to sure about it, I retyped more than a few parts trying to get it just right because it didn't seem to flow well at first but I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you to all you readers out there for taking the time to read this, I will see you next time.**


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Joking with Joker

After giving Miranda a small reality check that he had been waiting to give her Ty retreated back to the med-bay to meditate and watch over Shepard. Ty had a few reasons for his little talk he gave Miranda first being that she needed someone to give her that reality check and the second reason being she also needed to know that she wasn't alone with the whole being created thing. His final reason was that he needed to make her realize that she didn't have to hold herself to such impossible standards of perfection because of her genetics. He wasn't sure how successful he was but he hoped that he had made her lighten up a bit more, or as much as someone like Miranda could with this mission. He was happy he got her to stand down though but he was sure it had more to do with the fact that she was tired and less to do with what he said, he didn't doubt the effect his words had but Miranda wouldn't have taken being thrown over his shoulder on a normal day without her actually trying to fight out of it. She was just too tired to fight it all but at least she would get some sleep, Ty on the other hand was going to have a sleepless night remedied with watching out for Shepard and some normal meditation that didn't take away his sense of the outside world.

He figured that nothing would happen since Chakwas said they got her stable but he wasn't going to revisit a memory and have Shepard's memory wiped or die while he was supposed to be watching her, that wouldn't do him any favors among the crew or the galaxy and knowing Shepard she'd probably haunt his ass for being stupid. Ty got into the med-bay and put Miranda's omni-tool onto the table that Chakwas terminal sat on and then turned to go back to his bed, as he walked in the direction of his bed he stopped at Shepard's and examined her. Her face held no sign of stress which was a bit different since her features usually showed some stress but seeing as she was asleep it made sense. Her scars were healing but they still had a slight orange tint to them. "One hell of a night huh Shepard?" Ty asked to himself. Ty patted her hand and said "You'll be fixed up in no time and back to kicking ass. Sleep well; you of all people need it." Ty said as he walked to his bed.

Ty plopped down on the bed and looked over to EDI's terminal; he had to make sure she was still watching after Shepard, "EDI are you still keeping a constant check on Shepard's vitals?" Ty asked. "Yes Ty, she is stable at the moment and there hasn't been a flare up since they found her. It would seem that Doctor Chakwas and Miss Lawson may have solved the problem completely but I cannot speculate further without more data." EDI stated.

Ty let out a sigh, Shepard didn't need this crap happening to her and he felt completely useless with it. "Okay I'm sure they did their best and I know you did too; keep me posted if there is any irregularity or if she wakes up." Ty said. "I will Ty, is there anything else you need?" EDI asked. Ty shook his head no, aside from a doctorate in some type of medical field there wasn't much she could do for him, "Nah I'm good EDI." Ty suddenly had a thought, "Actually can you tell me if Miranda is lying down or sleeping?" Ty asked. "Miss Lawson is asleep, anything else?" EDI asked. "Tell Joker to cancel the funeral he was planning and to not crash the ship otherwise you can leave if you want." Ty said. "Logging you out Ty." EDI said as she disappeared.

It was going to be a long night even with meditation so Ty moved himself so his back was against the wall behind the bed and crossed his legs as he relaxed his body and mind. Meditation would help pass the time and help him relax from the semi stressful night of the Normandy, it wasn't everyday your Commander and friend nearly had their memory wiped and though Ty had more stressful days this one was different and he wasn't sure why it felt different. He didn't let that bother him though as he let his mind relax, as he started to meditate to pass time his thoughts drifted across different things but they were mostly focused on the squad. This new squad was turning out to be very formidable all the while becoming his friends, the first wasn't a huge surprise since they all were fighters of a sort with their own specialties and pasts, the second surprised Ty slightly.

He took being apart of a crew seriously and knew he was going to watch all of their backs and get to know them a little but the way all the friendships had formed so far was, in a way, surprising, especially with Jack and Shepard. Jack was in the mission to survive and stop the Collectors then cut loose but somehow the two began to bond, maybe it was because he treated her differently than she had been treated by anyone else or maybe it was just a façade, though he doubted that, either way though the friendship they had formed was slightly surprising to Ty.

Then there was Shepard and that was a confusing conundrum in of itself, Ty never figured that Commander Shepard of all people would want to get to know him or even give a damn about him in the first place but that was mostly because he didn't know her at the time he deduced that conclusion. Now though he considered her as a great friend, his confidant as of late and just an overall good person, why she took interest in him was beyond him but he didn't regret meeting her. Meeting Shepard was the only reason why everyone who had to do with the murdering of all his friends and Ka'Reena were dead, meeting Shepard was the only reason why he was able to save Haley from death. If it wasn't for her he'd probably have never lived to see them all die or been able to save Haley, he owed her more than he'd ever be able to repay.

One thing he couldn't figure out about her went back to their conversation about her moving on from Kaiden, the guy walked away sure but in Ty's mind it was probably a heat of the moment thing mixed with Ty being there since no one in the Alliance really liked him for obvious but false reasons. Shepard probably didn't really want to be with Ty of all people she was probably just saying that he forgot to mention himself in that list of people he gave her for who she could move on with but it still confused Ty, the way she gripped his hand while he was sitting in front of his bed when she gave him his pep talk after rescuing Haley and the pep talk itself showed a great amount of care towards him but he himself showed the same amount of care towards his crew so maybe it was just his mind toying with him but he couldn't help but feel he was missing something. Did she really consider him as someone she would move on with? Probably not and Ty didn't want to put her life at risk anyway with the crazy people he dealt with and even if she did consider him it wouldn't work anyway. They were on two very different sides of the law and any association with him would ruin everything she worked for, something Ty wasn't going to do to her.

Ty shook his head at himself; he wasn't sure why he was even thinking about her in such a way, sure she was attractive and had a great personality but it was impossible and never going to happen so there was no sense wasting thoughts on it. He didn't really want to just jump into another relationship anyways, his dad was right on a lot but he was dead on when he said that Ty had chosen not to listen to the second half of his advice and not go searching for love again. He wasn't planning on going down the hurting highway more than once in this life and though it was going against Ka'Reena's wishes he couldn't bring himself to think about being with another woman right now. Maybe someday in the future after the war was over, but not now.

Ty didn't know how long he had been meditating but he knew it was long when he began to feel a bit of numbness in his legs. He opened his eyes and checked his omni-tool for the time, it was going on nine in the morning and Chakwas was already up and on her terminal hammering away. "Mornin' doc." Ty said as he uncrossed his legs. Circulation began to flow through his legs as Chakwas looked over to him, she gave him a warm smile as she said, "To you as well, I hope I didn't wake you up I was trying to not be too loud because you looked almost completely at peace." Ty shook his head and said "No you didn't, my internal clock was just waking me up telling me I've been meditating to long, along with my legs starting to lose circulation. Anything new on Shepard?"

Ty glanced over at Shepard, she was still asleep or unconscious Ty wasn't sure which but it looked like she hadn't moved since she was put in the med-bay. Chakwas shook her head and said "No, right now she seems to be sleeping and she hasn't had any flare ups but that doesn't mean the threat has passed." Ty nodded as he looked back over to Chakwas who continued, "Otherwise with you it seems you haven't had any side affects from being knocked out and being slightly concussed exception of course for your rhymes and becoming a little more tactically sound." Chakwas said with a cheeky grin. Ty smiled and shook his head and asked "So do you need to do your final evaluation?" Chakwas stood up and said "I suppose I could so you aren't confined to bed-rest anymore."

Chakwas did several tests on him starting with using a pen light and shining it into his eyes and ending with some internal head scans, she grabbed a data-pad after finishing and said "It seems that you have recovered completely from your head injury and as long as you don't engage into another head-butting contest with Grunt you should be fine. I do not condone you participating in anything like that again but if you find it necessary then I cannot stop you, my advice for right now is to relax a little while we wait for the Commander to recover and refrain from hitting your head." Ty nodded as she put the data-pad down and unwrapped the bandage around his head, after she finished she went back to her table and went back to work on her terminal.

Ty grabbed the Avenger off his bed and looked to the table for Miranda's omni-tool but did not see it, "Did Miranda come get her omni-tool?" Ty asked. "Yes and she wanted me to tell you she needs you to unlock her terminal." Chakwas said. Ty chuckled slightly; he'd be surprised if she was even seventy five percent of the way through breaking his hack. Ty put his hood up and said "Alright that's my first stop then, if Shepard wakes up while I'm gone tell her I say she needs to lay off the sand and to take her time recovering since we need her at her best." "I will tell her when she wakes up, be careful Ty." Chakwas said. Ty nodded at her and said "See ya doc."

Ty walked out and through the mess hall where two crew members he did not know were eating breakfast talking about the man's family being on a colony near the Collector attacks and the woman reassuring him that they'd be fine. Though the guy was Cerberus Ty did hope his family would get out of there, no one deserved the fate of being taken by the Collectors. Ty shook off the memories of the frozen colonists and the cocoon pods all over Horizon as he got to Miranda's office, the doors opened and he saw Miranda with her omni-tool up pushing buttons on it with a bit of a frustrated look on her face, "Hey princess how's hacking my lock working for you?" Ty asked sarcastically. She scowled at her omni-tool as a message popped up, it was one of Ty's personal fail messages for those who tried to hack his locks and by the look on Miranda's face it was the "I can't believe you are seriously still trying." message.

The chuckle that escaped Ty brought Miranda's eyes up to him, she looked severely frustrated at the hack but even with her frustration it wasn't really at Ty, just his hack. "I've been working on it all morning and I haven't even gotten a quarter of the way through it, could you please unlock it now?" Though Ty's initial comment was going to be something about not being able to hack his lock he stopped short as the word please rang through his head, "Oh my god. Did you just say please?" Ty asked in a shocked tone. "Don't press your luck, now could you unlock this I have reports to send." Miranda said pointing at her terminal. Figuring it'd be better to just leave it alone despite his inner sarcasm wanting to have fun with it Ty opened his omni-tool and pressed a few buttons undoing his lock, "Your clear princess, if you need me I'll be in the cargo hold fiddling around with this gun." Ty said showing her the gun.

Miranda nodded and as Ty was walking out she said "And Ty, thank you for what you said last night though I'm not sure I believe it all." Ty smirked a little, not only had she said please but thank you as well, was this the same Miranda who had threatened to rip him in half with her biotics? The voice of Miranda yelling at him made Ty smile bigger, "Don't mention it Miranda you may not believe it because we're from opposite sides but I did mean it, see ya later." Ty said.

Ty had a plan on what he was going to do with the guns but he figured it would take him a while to get them all done, especially figuring out the special ammo but he was game for figuring it out, he liked working on stuff like this, it's how all four space bikes had ended up getting created, that and a lot of hours getting zapped. That's how he found himself down in the cargo hold with the Avenger he had cleaned the night before on a work bench as he had his breather part of his mask on and was spray painting slowly and precisely the new gun. He didn't know that the Normandy would have boxes full of special spray paint that he was able to use on the guns, similar if not the same type of paint he used on his own guns but he was happy since he didn't have to buy all the paint and he had practically an unlimited amount.

He had music blaring again but this time it was actually more instrumental music from the twenty first century. Ty enjoyed the music which is why he was listening to it while he was working; each gun was going to resemble their owner in some way through color, ammo and/or names carved into it. He had a good idea for the color of Grunts but he didn't know what for the engravings yet, _maybe bloodrage or I am Krogan_, he was still figuring everything out.

His precision spray painting lasted another three hours since he added a custom paint design into it turning the front of it into a Varren's face with it's teeth showing, _this looks sick if I do say so myself_, Ty thought as he finished the Varren's teeth. Now if he was fighting someone who happened to have the face of a Varren on the front of their gun, well it wouldn't change much for him but he figured that if a bunch of mercenaries saw Grunt charging at them with a battle cry and the gun in his hands they'd probably panic before dying, or panic more than usual.

Ty left it to dry and washed the paint off his skin and let his mask retract off his face as he sat down at a terminal to research how to put special ammo into the weapons. He himself had never taken any interest in modding his ammo, whether or not the people had armor, barriers or shields didn't matter to him because his rounds would cut them down no matter what and if they didn't work his tomahawks would find their way into their chests, skulls or backs. Grunt on the other hand used incendiary rounds, incendiary rounds were good against weaker armor but Ty knew of a special type of inferno rounds that also happened to be illegal in Council space that ripped through the toughest armors all the way up to Thresher Maws who had some of the toughest armor that Ty had run into.

He found what he was looking for after an hour of searching and being unsuccessful due to the fake extranet sites that claimed to know but really didn't. He downloaded the information onto his omni-tool so he could always have access to it, he didn't know if everyone in the crew would accept the new guns but he figured even if they didn't at least he'd have fun making them and he could probably sell them on the extranet to get some extra cash, though he didn't really need it, or give it to Jessica, Haley or Darian since none of them had custom guns. The good news was if he screwed up he could get some more from the armory or in the field but he didn't plan on messing up.

He sat down on a crate to relax but as he did Jokers voice came over the intercom "Hey Ty you busy?" Joker asked. Ty turned his music off and said "Nah just relaxing for a second before I continue work on the gun I just finished spray painting, something important going on?" "Nothing spectacular, Shepard's still playing Snow White and we're about to dock at a re-fueling station before we can finally finish getting to the Citadel. The crew knows about Shepard now since they were all starting to question why she hadn't been around to talk, Miranda gave them the low down but not the whole story, can't say I blame her." Joker said.

Ty nodded to himself agreeing with what Joker said and what Miranda told the crew, they didn't need panic among the crew or doubt. "I can't say I blame her either, it was pretty bad and it could effect the moral of the some of the squad like Garrus and Tali getting worried about her health and someone calling it quits because they aren't completely dedicated yet." Ty said. "I wouldn't want to explain that one to Shepard "hey yeah since you almost lost all your memory and died half the crew left." Joker joked sarcastically. Ty laughed at his joke and as he laughed Joker continued "I know you put a lot of hard work into recruiting them Commander but they weren't going to follow you if you almost died and you weren't even in battle, only Ty could pull that off and get away with it. Speaking of Ty though he's gone too, he left because there was a Krogan uprising and he was going to stop it by head-butting them all and getting blown up by a missile, but hey at least we still got Garrus and Tali right."

Ty couldn't help but laugh at the joke because it was funny and he could only imagine the grin on Jokers face as he joked about his injuries, Ty got control of his laughter and said "Good one Joker you finally got one over on me." "Yes! Finally, I've been waiting for this moment and it feels good." Joker said with Ty assumed a big smile. As Ty smiled he heard EDIs synthesized voice come over the intercom, "I don't think it was the joke that is making you feel good Mr. Moreau it might be that site you have booked on the extranet." "What!" Joker yelped in shock. "That was a joke." EDI said.

This led Ty into bursting out with laughter because EDI had gotten Joker good and this time Ty didn't have anything to do with it. "Ty did you set that up?" Joker asked in an accusing tone. Ty wasn't capable of answering because of how hard he was laughing, he wanted to take credit for it because it was good but he couldn't not when it was EDIs first joke on Joker. She set it up so perfectly or just picked a great time to say it without knowing of a time it was. "I do not think Ty is able to answer you right now but no it was not him." EDI answered. "I can't believe it, beat by the talking toaster. Ty you are so gonna pay for teaching it human emotions." Joker said.

Ty got a little more control over his laughter but he still was laughing a little as he said "I'd say it wasn't my fault but I take full responsibility for it. Good one EDI that joke was great; make sure you make a note of that to tell Shepard." "Really Ty you have to have it make a note about it, now I'll never hear the end of it." Joker said moaning. "Do not worry Mr. Moreau I will not incite your emotions with it, as you said no hard feelings good game." EDI said. Ty started laughing again hearing EDI use Jokers material against him, it was funny and he could only imagine the look on Jokers face now, "Yea well look at it this way…Shut up." Joker said in an irritated tone. Ty got better control of his laughter this time and said "Calm down girls, Joker how much longer till we reach the Citadel."

Ty heard Joker mumble something about Ty taking EDIs side in the conflict than he said "About ten hours, hopefully Shepard will be up by then but if she's not then I don't know what we are going to do about the mission." "I'll think of something to keep everyone on track, I may not be a second in command or anything but I think most the squad trust me more than Miranda." Ty said. "Maybe you should go talk to Garrus about what he needed to do on the Citadel, if anything you and him can take someone on the mission if Shepard's still down." Joker said.

That was something that Ty did not want to do, stepping into being the leader of a squad, even if it was temporary, was not something he ever wanted to do again. Besides that point though this was Shepard's squad and they needed to be loyal to her not him. "I don't know about that Joker that's stepping way to far into the Commanders territory for my liking, they need to be loyal to her not me, plus I don't think Garrus would want me snooping in his personal business." Ty said a little uneasy at the idea. "Yea well better you than Miranda, it's just an idea I personally think Shepard will be up and going by then but if not someone needs to do something while she's down and you're the top candidate." Joker said. "Mr. Moreau has a point Ty, though all decisions should be handled by the second in command, which is Miss Lawson, you have a good working relationship with most of the squad and they would surly follow you if you asked. You could also get information for the mission so when Shepard wakes up you could brief her on the mission." EDI said.

Ty still was uneasy on the idea, yeah he had been the leader of his own squad which gave him the knowledge of knowing that decisions like this needed to be made and information needed to be retrieved but he knew Miranda and her position on the mission of being the second in command which meant that she thought all decisions had to go through her if Shepard didn't make them and he knew that if he went ahead and did the mission it could have bad ramifications on the main mission and between him and Shepard. "I don't know you two." Ty said uneasily. "Just think about it Ty you still have ten hours before we get there and Shepard could still wake up between now and then but if she doesn't you're the next best one on here for collecting data and leading a team." Joker said.

Ty chuckled and said sarcastically "Last team I led all but two of us died." "Gah you are such a downer, Shepard trusted you with being the Haestorm over-watch instead of Miranda I'm sure she'd trust you with being the one in charge while she was out, besides the way she looks at you no doubt she'd trust you with it." _The way she looks at me? Oh fuck me my mind wasn't just playing tricks on me, _Ty thought. "If I may interject Ty I believe Mr. Moreau has a valid point though Cerberus protocols would make Miranda in charge." EDI said. "Plus its not like you answer to Cerberus right, you can do what you want as long as it doesn't compromise the mission, not to mention you already basically do what you want like leaving the ship without consent in all." Joker said. Ty chuckled despite the lingering unrest he suddenly felt with Joker's comment; if Shepard really held any interest in him…he really didn't want to think of all the bad things that could happen. "I had EDIs consent and my own, okay I see both of your points I'm still not sure about it but I'll think about it and if Shepard isn't up by the time we're only three hours away I'll make a decision, okay?" Ty asked. "That's all I was asking, we're about to undock from the fuel station and continue to the Citadel after we hit one last relay, I'll talk to you later Ty." Joker said. "Talk to you later Joker." Ty said as he got off the crate.

As Ty walked back to the gun he could feel his nervousness building, why would she hold any interest in him? She had to know it wouldn't work; she had to know it was way too dangerous for them both to even be thinking about that. Even if it was just a blow off steam kind of thought it was still a bad idea, if somehow someone ever found out all of her hard work would be ignored and she would be blacklisted faster than Ty and his family had been. He would speak to her about it when they had time to themselves if Joker's and Ty's suspicions were right. Ty let the thought leave him as he pulled up his omni-tool data on inferno ammo, as he read through the data and started making the adjustments he realized that one, it was going to be very time consuming and two after that talk with Joker and EDI he wasn't sure that he should be doing this right now since he might have to go onto Citadel and find information but he forced himself to keep working hoping Shepard would be up and going by then.

Six Hours Later

Ty was working on the ammo of the Avenger when it let off a tiny fire blast going across his left hand burning it slightly, "Ow shit what the fuck was that!" Ty yelled as he retracted his hand quickly. He got up and walked away from the gun to the crate he was originally sitting on, "Fuck that burned." Ty said. It had been six hours since he talked to Joker and so far he had made progress on the gun getting it seventy five percent complete but he couldn't get past the new direction because, well the gun let off some fire burning him.

Ty checked his omni-tool data in an attempt to figure out what he did wrong and when he saw it he felt stupid, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me? All because I forgot to turn the safety on and fold the gun back up. God damn that's stupid who makes these stupid rules." Ty said to himself as he shut his omni-tool off_. Fucking stupid I should've known to do that but no what did we say, "fold the gun up and turn the safety on? Why do I need to do that, not like it'll shoot while I'm working on it." Stupid, stupid, stupid you always put the safety on and fold a gun up when you work on it that's the number one rule like turning your space bike off when you decide you want to mess with the electronics_, Ty scolded himself. _Four hours till we reach the Citadel, no news on Shepard and in an hour I gotta start making a decision on what I'm going to do when we get there…Lets give Haley a call, we can have her meet us there or talk to her about it now and see what she thinks I should do, _Ty thought as he opened his omni-tool and dialed Haley's number.

It didn't take long for her to answer and when she did she answered "The answer was no." Ty was confused so he asked "Huh?" "Jessica and Darian haven't got past the species barrier yet but they say they are working on it, remember at the table on Illium Z accused Darian and Jessica of shacking up." Haley said. Ty saw and heard his brother yell and point at Darian and Jess again and laughed a little and said "Oh yea they got really uncomfortable about it, so they haven't made the bond yet?" Haley chuckled and said "No they haven't but they are working on it trying to get around the species difference, anyway what's up? Something going on?" "I need your advice." Ty said. "Hmm, who are you and what have you done with my Ty?" Haley asked in a joking manor. "Ha ha, I really need some advice Haley." Ty said. "Sorry, alright shoot." Haley answered. "I think the spirits have too much time on their hands but they decided to hand me another opportunity at a type of leadership close to what I had before and I'm conflicted on what to do." Ty said. "I think I know why, give me all the details." Haley said.

**A/N: Not really my favorite chapter, kind of another interludy chapter with a few good funny moments but that's just me critiquing myself. Just a quick heads up, well not really a heads up just a fun fact I guess but anyway Ty likes a lot of music from our time so expect to see "twenty first century music" any time he listens to music. Another fun fact is that though I didn't mention the actual group or groups that he listens to that way if you like a certain group of rock or instrumental music since that's all that been mentioned thus far you can just imagine it there but I figure him listening to something like Two Steps from Hell or Audiomachine this chapter who I thank and credit to making music that is just awesomely epic. I don't own Mass Effect, all copyrights and all that stuff goes to who actually owns it which I believe is Bioware/E/A. I also don't own those two musical companies those copyrights and stuff belong to their respective owners, I'm just a nerdy fan who enjoys both Mass Effect and the epic music of TSFH and AM. Whether or not those are actual abbreviations I don't know but if not they are now, anyway total sidetrack there ,gotta finish this up. A quick thank you to FORD B for the review, I really enjoyed writing that chapter between Miranda and Ty definitely when she was flung over his shoulder and threatening his life. I like how all the characters in Mass Effect evolve, Miranda from frigid bitch to how she was in the Citadel DLC and at the end of Mass Effect 2 or while you romance her, Jack from psycho who doesn't let anyone close to acutally being a friend and then a teacher of children, Garrus from pole up his ass to whacking people with it. Okay the last one was just in good fun but I'm sure I don't need to go through what I liked about each characters development for all of you. A quick thank you to all you readers, I know I say thank you a lot but when I decided to post this I didn't think I'd get anything close to what I have now in views, reviews, favs, follows and all the other stuff so I feel the need to thank you all for proving my self doubt wrong. Anyway initiatives will be taken next chapter and plans will be formed and [spoiler redacted] for Ty will be coming soon. I will see you next time.**


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Taking the Initiative

It took Ty near on ten minutes to lay down all the details from Shepard having headaches to where he was now including the gun he was customizing as Haley listened so she could give him some advice, as he finished she waited a few seconds making sure he was done than she said "Wow looks like you got a cluster fuck going on there." Ty chuckled and said "You're telling me." Cluster fuck was putting it mildly; it was by luck that Ty had come upon Wilson's memory wipe training before the actual memory wipe happened. What happened with Chakwas and Miranda up there Ty didn't know but it looked to have taxed them both mentally, emotionally and physically. "It sounds like you'd be stepping on some already stamped toes by taking charge since you gave big butt a reality check the night before." Ty couldn't help but laugh at Haley's nickname for Miranda, "Big butt; that's a cute nickname." "I thought so, anyway unless Shepard wakes up in the next three and a half hours something's gotta be done and you know that. Personally I say collect data on what she's gonna have to do and if big butt has a problem with it then its not like you have a problem with telling her to fuck off, Z might, but you don't. Not like collecting data is really taking over the mission its just getting something done, you know?"

She had a point but that left the problem of getting involved with Garrus's personal affairs, Ty was a fellow crew mate sure and Ty considered Garrus as a friend but personal affairs weren't something to just go in asking about. "I see your point on that part, but what about Garrus? I don't want to be rude and just get all up in his business because I'm not going to wait for Shepard to get up, that'll make me feel like an ass." "Well you are already a sarcastic ass." Haley joked. "Ha ha." Ty said dryly. "Well if you two are friends why not just go in there to talk to him and see if he brings it up otherwise you two will just be shooting the shit." Haley said.

That seemed about the only option he had with that route, he never forced his crew to talk about anything they didn't want to, he'd ask but he wouldn't push them. He had to do the same with Garrus just not ask so openly, Ty hadn't kept up with Omega gossip enough to know the full story of Archangel and his group but he had seen the bodies in the apartment back on Omega, _"I've learned that being a legend of Omega is a very prestigious title that comes with bullets, nightmares and dead friends."_ Garrus's voice played through Ty's head again, _we both learned that lesson and it seems we both had the same goal afterwards, revenge, _Ty thought. _Whoever is still alive and the reason for what happened to his squad has a target painted on their skull if Garrus is chasing him. This person would go to hiding, anyone smart would know Garrus would go hunting if he survived and if this person is smart then they know Garrus is alive and went even deeper into hiding. No one can stay hidden forever, that's a lesson they are about to learn. _ "I guess that might work otherwise I'll have to ask Chambers and see if she would be willing to give up the information." Ty said. "That could work too, anything else you need me for?" Haley asked. "No if you're busy I'll let you go." Ty said. "Well I'm redecorating a room for me and so is Jessica for herself and its not going to get done by itself." Haley said.

Ty smiled because he was happy they were making themselves at home which also meant they were going to end up training with Darian, Z and his dad, they needed to have some basic defense skills for personal safety plus with the Reapers coming they needed to be prepared in case they had to fight. "I'll talk to you later Haley and do yourself a favor and get laid while your at it." "Oh you have no idea how much I plan on it, there's a certain Asari I plan on hooking in for some fun times." Haley said. Ty chuckled and said "And here I thought you were gonna start fucking guys." "Didn't know you were still available since you're the only guy that I'll have sex with." Haley said seriously. "What gave you the idea I was taken?" Ty asked. "Shepard and the way she looked at you when we were leaving and the way you told her to look after herself. I may have been on medicinal drugs but I know when I see two people who have feelings for each other, you both want to do more than have sex." Haley said matter of factly.

Ty wasn't sure where that came from but he was surprised that Haley had caught onto Shepard before he had, sure he noticed slight things but the more he thought about what Joker said and now what Haley said the more he realized that they were right and he had been almost completely oblivious to it. He also wasn't sure what Haley meant by the way he told her to look after herself, hell he wasn't sure why he had said it in the first place but it wasn't out of the thought that they could be an item or that he wanted to be with her. "Haley." Ty said in a chastising tone. "Be in denial all you want but you both looked at each other the way we looked at each other once upon a time and how you looked at Ka'Reena." Haley said.

Had he really been looking at her like that? He cared about her sure but the look Haley was speaking of was an "in love" look not an "I care about you as a friend and leader" look. Ty couldn't deny that he did like her a little, he'd be foolish to outright deny that he didn't find her personality and looks attractive but to think they could be anything other than good friends was like thinking that his family would one day not be hunted by everyone. Neither were ever going to happen so maybe that was why he hadn't paid much mind to it, even if did happen it wouldn't end good, it would end in her career being over and her name blacklisted while he would be imprisoned or death sentenced because they would sting operation him while they were meeting without telling Shepard.

Maybe in another life where he wasn't a criminal and she wasn't with Kaiden but in this life any chance of them being anything more than friends was never going to happen and Ty wasn't going to let himself believe it could work. He enjoyed having Shepard as a friend anyway and he wasn't going to ruin that friendship by letting these thoughts get to him. "Haley it's not going to happen and if it was even possible it wouldn't end in happily ever after. I'm not going through that twice." Ty said sternly. "I know I know I was just saying. I'm sorry if I said something that pissed you off I was just telling you what I see." Haley said. The two of them sat in silence for a few seconds before Haley let out a sigh and said "I love you Ty and I want you to be happy even if being happy is with another woman."

Deep down part of Ty wished he hadn't made the choice of going separate ways with Haley, part of him wished that he had stayed with her and kept the happiness that she made him feel. He'd take her back in a heart beat if he could but he couldn't, once the war was over with the Reapers Haley and Jessica needed to leave the shelter of the Rhoddy home base so they could enjoy their lives and live it to the fullest. Ty would be an anchor and though Haley would never say he was, his way of life would anchor her to him and leave her heart broken in the end and he wasn't going to do that to her or Jessica, or Shepard for that matter. They all deserved someone better than him, someone who wouldn't disappear one day and then find out that he was killed in a gun fight or something of that sort. "I know Haley but that whole situation is a death sentence for me and something worse for her, she's a great friend and that's all it needs to be for her sake." Ty said. "Okay I understand, I'll talk to you later and Ty…good luck with everything okay, I love you." Haley said. "And I love you Haley, stay safe." "Will do." Haley said than ended the call. Ty turned off his omni-tool and decided to go check on Shepard's condition then talk to Garrus and hopefully find out why they were going to the Citadel.

The elevator ride was slow as usual but Ty was beginning to not hate them so much, it gave him time to think about whatever he needed to think about when he was in it. The only exception he'd make is that if it was going to be slow on a normal basis then it needed to have an accelerator for emergencies, the elevator ride with Haley in his arms was one of the emergencies that he wished the elevator could have been faster just for reassurance. Ty contemplated his conversation with Haley as the elevator ascended; the Reaper war was coming without a doubt, when was the only question there was for that. With the war right around the corner Ty couldn't spend his time looking for a relationship, a war had to be fought and others were going to be trying to make their final days good ones if the Reapers were going to win so someone had to be out there fighting.

Love could grant strength and resolve for a lot of warriors but Ty had his family to love and protect and that was what would drive him to win. He didn't want the worry of falling for someone who he wouldn't be able to fight along side because they were stationed somewhere else, he would hate to get a message letting him know that his lover was killed in action and if he fell for a civilian then they would be worrying constantly and if he happened to die in battle he didn't want to put his family or whoever would give her the news that he was dead. He had been the bearer of that type of news nine separate times, eight for all his squad who died and one for Ka'Reena and each time had been like seeing them all die again but this time he got to witness each death happening slowly.

Finding love wasn't on his agenda any time soon, he wasn't going to put someone on the hurting highway or fly back down it himself. The elevator brought him to the crew quarters and he walked out to the med-bay to see if there had been any progress on Shepard's condition, good news was something he wanted right now. He walked into the med-bay to see Chakwas with a data pad in her hand walking back to her desk, "Hey doc anything new?" Ty asked. She looked up from the data pad and gave Ty a warm smile than said "Hello Ty, there is some good news for once, come in and sit down."

Ty walked in and sat down on the bed he was on before and looked over at Shepard who was breathing steadily and moving her legs a little as she slept, that was a huge improvement from not moving a muscle aside from her chest moving up and down the night before. "Well I see she's moving a little now." Ty said looking back to the doctor. "Yes and she actually was awake for a little while and was able to recognize me and Miranda, she also asked about you." Chakwas said as she sat down.

A feeling of confusion flooded Ty as he tried to attempt to figure out how to respond to that, the confusion wore off as he raised an eyebrow and asked "Me?" He had been thinking to himself of all the reasons why it couldn't work between them since he got in the elevator and wasn't sure if because of those thoughts that he had become confused or that he was curious to know why she would ask about him. Chakwas nodded and said "Yes you, she saw that you weren't on your bed anymore and was worried something bad had happened. She is quite fond of you I think but I gave her another sedative to get her to go back to sleep, Shepard is great at many things but being a patient and following the rules is not one of them." Ty chose to ignore the mention of her being fond of him as he asked, "Will she be clear by the time we get to the Citadel?" "Not right away but she should be up when we get there then I'll have to do an evaluation to make sure everything is fine; we don't want this happening again."

Ty nodded to himself, Chakwas was right on that, the last thing they needed was Shepard getting taken out by something like this again but that meant he had to go talk to Garrus about what he and Shepard were going to do, "I need to talk to Garrus then. Do you need anything doc while we are on the Citadel?" Ty asked as he got off his butt. "Well if you have the time and credits I've been looking for a replacement bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy, me and Shepard drank the entire one she got me while we were reminiscing." Ty nodded in confirmation that he was going to do it but Chakwas continued, "Do you like her Ty?" Chakwas asked. "You mean as in more than a friend?" Ty asked though he knew what she meant. Chakwas caught that though but smiled as she said "Of course that's what I meant, I won't push you to say anything but back on the other Normandy she loved to read adventure novels so if you want to spare the time and credits I'd buy those for her. It could be a nice gift if you care for her like that otherwise it would be a nice friendly gift." Chakwas said.

There was no escaping this talk it seemed, Joker, Haley and now Chakwas all knew something that Ty hadn't only a day ago and now it seemed that everyone wanted to talk about it as impossible as it was. Ty walked over to Shepard's bedside and looked at her, _she looks almost peaceful without any kind of stress, no wars coming, no Collector threat, like she never had a worry in the world, must be a strong sedative. _"I'll keep an eye out for it while I'm on the Citadel but I sincerely hope she doesn't have strong feelings for me like you, Haley and Joker say and like I notice." Ty said as he walked away. "Whys that?" Chakwas asked. Ty continued to the door and said "Because I don't deserve someone like her and she can do a hell of a lot better than me."

_Time to talk to Garrus, Spirits if you're listening then please let this go well,_ Ty thought as he walked up towards the battery doors, the doors slid open and Ty walked in than stopped as he saw Garrus working away at his terminal, "Hey Garrus you busy doing calibrations?" Ty asked. Garrus turned around and said "No just finished them, well finished them for now until I start on them again, you need something?" "A couple things, first off Shepard woke up once and seems like things are going fine with her but Chakwas put her back to sleep since Shepard was being, well Shepard." Ty said as he walked over to the crate he sat on the last time he was in there. "Being stubborn as all hell and not wanting to take a break from work." Garrus said with the Turian equivalent of a smirk. Ty smiled as he sat down and said "You know her so well, anyway the second thing is I just wanted to talk so I can get my mind off some things."

It wasn't completely false, with all the recent talks about Shepard liking him he wanted to get his mind off it so he wouldn't let himself hope for something that wouldn't happen. "You seem to have that problem a lot, no offense." Garrus said. Ty waved him off and said "None taken; probably doesn't help that I can relive my past in full clarity and see everyone else's past if I want." Garrus nodded thoughtfully as he said "True but it could be worse, at least you were able to save your friend and avenge all of your friends who died." Garrus said. Garrus looked down away from Ty than back at him; Ty caught it and saw it as an opening to get the information he needed. "I gotta know Garrus it's been bothering me for a while now, why after everything you did with Shepard against Saren did you go to Omega and start fighting crime? You could've been like a hero or go back to C-Sec and be like the Executor. Why Omega? That pisshole that I spent most of my teenage years causing problems on probably will never turn around."

Garrus's mandibles moved a little to what was the Turian equivalent of a frown, "After Saren, Sovereign, and Shepard were taken out I tried going back to C-Sec but I wasn't exactly held in high regard, none of us associated with it were." Garrus said. Ty had almost forgotten about everyone getting swept under the rug and anyone who said Reaper became a loony. Having Darian as a second command gave Ty the knowledge of Turian body language and facial expressions, to say that Garrus was more than a little pissed as he began speaking was an understatement "I couldn't do a damn thing to help the Citadel repair and keep law and order because of all the red tape they put up for me. I finally got fed up with the Councils bureaucratic crap and hiding the true threat of the Reapers and headed to Omega to try and make a difference. Ditched my name for the name of Archangel after the locals gave it to me and recruited some men who wanted to make a change like I did." Garrus said starting to pace a little.

Ty was given many nicknames over the years by the people of Omega but he never had abandoned his own in hope they wouldn't continue with the over eccentric nicknames, unfortunately they never stopped calling him by the names. Ty felt bad for Garrus, Garrus did his best to make a difference in a good way but still got swept under the rug by the people he was fighting to protect. "What they did to you was a load of shit, they should've made you in charge of a Reaper task force or something so we can prepare for them, fucking politics hate them so much. Omega had to be a field day for you with all the criminals there, surprised we never ran into each other." Garrus chuckled slightly then said "We actually did once, well sort of." Ty raised an eyebrow then it suddenly hit him, "You! You were the targeting laser that nearly killed me!" Ty nearly yelled. "Well to be fair I had that shot perfectly lined up before you kicked him out that window and we did cover your escape with the slaves, damn Batarian slavers didn't know what hit him."

Memories of the day flashed through Ty's mind as he felt a chuckle coming on, _Ty had tracked the Blue Sun slaver to his apartment hideout and left the guards untouched as he climbed to the fourth story of the building and made his way into the window. The room he entered happened to be a bedroom of some sort but had a lot of sexual toys lying around, "Come on baby let's go have some fun." A woman voice said getting closer to the door. __**Oh fuck me I am not being busted after coming this far and I am not going to witness whatever this is going to be**__, Ty thought as he hit his cloak. Ty crouched down and began walking slowly to the wall next to the door so he could make a quick exit as they entered. As he walked he stepped on something which made him look down, as he looked down he saw a dildo that looked inexplicably real that also happened to squirt a white liquid out that almost landed on his shoe. __**What the fuck? They make those?**__ Ty thought as he attempted to retract his boot from the dildo without getting more of the stuff to spray out, whatever the stuff was. _

_The door knob began to turn when Ty heard another female voice that was sultrier then the first, "You wanna use the rack?" The voice asked. __**Rack?**__ Ty thought. Ty couldn't stop himself from looking to his right to see said rack and a wall of different whipping instruments; __**I am not getting trapped on that rack. Fuck that I am so getting out of here,**__ Ty thought as he neared the wall. The door opened letting Ty see the owners of the room that would no doubtly become a room of horrors if Ty was caught, __**one Asari and one human, not sure if I'm surprised or not but I gotta get out of here. There will be nothing fun about what will happen if I am caught**__, Ty thought. The two got in far enough that allowed Ty to sneak out with the door shutting almost immediately behind him._

_**Mission objective: Escape sexual fantasy room, check that off and never speak of it again, I'm all for people doing what they enjoy and exploring but if I had been caught I have a feeling I would have been forced to "explore" some things I don't personally enjoy.**__ Ty shook the feeling off and felt the need to wash his hands but continued on his way up the stairs to the twelfth floor where his target was, __**time for a little visit to the asshole who now leads the slave ring then free the slaves that are in the room near him.**__ Ty moved quickly up the stairs with his cloak still on, as soon as he saw the number twelve he made his way through the door that the number was near and began looking and listening for the Batarian he was searching for._

_Ty moved down the hall slowly listening for the slaves as well, the muffled screams would help him find the Batarian and then he would die for what he was doing. Ty heard a raised voice that was definitely a Batarian and muffled cries further down the hall making him quicken his pace, he had to rescue the slaves they were his primary objective, killing the slaver was only secondary but also something he planned on doing at some point. Three doors down from Ty a door opened and out came his mark wearing the Blue Sun armor like a badge of armor, or a painted target in Ty's eyes. The Batarian walked to the door on the other side of the hall and went inside closing the door behind him. Ty's goal was to hurt the Suns and despite not wanting to be back on Omega he found himself looking from door to door deciding which path he would take first, Ty heard muffled crying on his right from the slave door and muffled laughter from the slavers door. His decision had been made._

_After unlocking the door and opening it slowly and closing it as quietly as he could to not attract attention from the slaver Ty found himself with his anger rising as he approached the man, Ty nearly stopped in his tracks at the word man. This being wasn't a man, he was the worse kind of scum and he was about to take a very long fall to his death. The Batarian was speaking into his comm as he looked out his window and as Ty's cloak came off he said "Time to die." "Wha- ahhhhhhhhhh!" The Batarian screamed as he was kicked through the glass and down twelve stories. Ty didn't have a lot of time to enjoy his victory since a sniper laser had targeted on the Batarian right before he kicked him and then a round ended up impacting on the desk behind Ty. _

_Ty followed the laser to its origin and could make out a Turian shaped helmet crouched in a building across the street, Ty saw what looked like a nod before his laser began aiming on the guards that were down on ground level. There was a synchronous round of fire from multiple directions which broke Ty out of his gaze at the Turian head, whoever it was wanted the Batarian dead and was covering Ty's escape, he needed to get the hostages out now. Ty began to walk back to the door as he had one last thought,__** I can't believe he almost just shot me.**_

* * *

How Ty had never put two and two together on that was beyond him but as he let the thoughts fade from his mind he shook his head and said "Did you have any idea who I was at that time?" Ty asked. Garrus shook his head no and said "I thought you looked familiar but I didn't know until after we got back to our base, the crew asked me who kicked the guy out of the window and I gave them your description." "Handsome devil with tattoos that is armed to the teeth with oddly shaped weapons on his back and a hood up?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "Actually I said kind of short, looked to be a bit out his depth and way to many tattoos that gave me a headache." Garrus shot back with a grin. "Ouch that's a new one actually." Ty said with a smirk. "I told them you had purple eyes and two oddly shaped weapons and one of them told me who you were, I remembered hearing some of the stories about you and figured out why I noticed you and let you go." Garrus said.

That had always been one thing Ty didn't understand back then, he figured they were fighting slightly on the same side but anyone with that moment and knowledge of who he was would have pulled the trigger for the reputation. The reputation would be short lived due to his family hunting them down but it was good to get some closure on that moment. He had nearly forgotten about that one trip to Omega during is hiatus of hunting the Suns, "What happened to you and your crew that everyone on Omega wanted your hinds?" Ty asked.

Garrus mandibles started moving as he was pacing then his voice started to rise, "We were starting to make a difference when one of our own betrayed us. It was my own damn fault I should have seen it coming, the Turian bastard gave up my men to the Blue Suns and had me follow a goose chase while they were ambushed and killed. There were only two left when I got back to our base and they didn't last much longer." _Shit, me and my big mouth, now I feel like an ass_. Ty shook his head and started apologizing sincerely "I'm sorry Garrus if I had known I wouldn't have asked." "Its fine once Shepard's up we're going to find Sidonis and kill the bastard." Garrus said_. Bingo, I still feel like an ass but at least I got a name to go off_, Ty thought. "Is there anything I can do to help, I know how it is to lose your team and friends. Not to mention if the Suns are involved I wouldn't mind taking them down a notch some more." Ty said. "Its fine Ty, you can tag along if you want when Shepard gets up and going but otherwise there isn't much you can do." Garrus said. _We'll see about that_, Ty thought.

Ty nodded and Garrus's mood seemed to change a little, "So what's this I hear about you helping save Shepard's life?" _Joker and his big mouth no doubt,_ Ty thought. Ty shook his head and said "I'm gonna kick that cripples ass, can't keep nothing private." Garrus's mandibles moved a little as he smiled and he said "Don't worry he only told me and Tali in private and made us swear an oath of secrecy because he didn't want you to break any of his limbs." Ty personally never would do it, he wasn't sure if the fear Joker had of him was a good thing or a bad thing though. "She'd do the same thing for anyone of us, plus she already helped give me a second chance at life." Ty said. "Paying back a debt?" Garrus asked. Ty shrugged and said "Yea in a way but I owe her more than what I did, I was just trying to do what was right." Garrus nodded and said "Understandable but for some reason I have a feeling its more than that." There wasn't much else to it but Ty smirked and said "A lot of people do." "So it's true?" Garrus asked.

Ty tilted his head and gave Garrus a questioning look and asked "Is what true?" "You and Shepard are an item." Garrus said. _Oh Joker I think I'm about to reconsider not breaking any of your bones for spreading rumors like that,_ Ty thought. "That's it I'm gonna kick brittle boys ass for spreading rumors." Ty said with a little agitation. Garrus put his hands up in a slow down motion than said "I'm just messing with you, there isn't a rumor going around like that. Got Shepard good with that one too." Ty felt a little relieved but couldn't stop himself from asking, "How good did you get her with it?" "She got really flustered and said she was going to kick Jokers ass." Garrus said. Ty smirked and nodded absently, "You ever think about it?" Garrus asked.

This conversation wasn't heading in a direction Ty liked so he put his hands up in a slow down motion as he said "No offense to her but I don't want that from her, besides you two have a better chance of that." "I respect her immensely but I don't see how it could work, you should seriously think on it though even if it's just her wanting to blow off some steam I'm sure you could use a little of that too." Garrus said. Ty sighed and lowered his head in defeat, "This is a never ending story today, first Joker, then Haley, then Chakwas and now you, she talk about me a lot or something?" "No but I saw her and Kaiden and the way she was with him, I see a lot of similarities happening now." Garrus said with a smile.

Ty shook his head trying to understand why Shepard liked him like that, there was no way it was possible between them, she had to realize that. "She confuses me; anyway I gotta go talk to a certain cripple before we reach the Citadel." Ty said. "You should talk to her when she's not in the med-bay to fix your confusion." Garrus said. Ty stood up and said "I plan on it so I can figure everything out, see ya later Garrus." "See ya Ty." Garrus said as he turned back around to do some more calibrations. Ty walked to his room and grabbed all his weapons and put them on, he did his best not to think about the last part of his conversation with Garrus from the walk to the elevator to the CIC and for the most part succeeded. He just had to focus on working, that would keep his mind from even remotely thinking about Shepard as more than a friend.

The doors to the elevator opened letting him walk out and into CIC, Kelly turned around to see who had come out of the elevator and Ty saw the look of surprise she had. He didn't venture up here to often so it was understandable, "Well look who's exploring for once." Kelly said with a flirty smile. Ty gave her one back and said "Yeah just stretching my legs a little since I need to talk to Joker." "I see. I hear the Commander is coming around." Kelly said. Ty nodded and said "Yep she's starting to come back a little, she'll be fine when we get to the Citadel the doc said, how much longer do we have till we get there?"

Kelly turned back to her terminal then turned back around and answered "About two hours and thirty minutes." Ty nodded and said "Alright got some time to spare then." Kelly got a smile on her face as she asked "What are you planning?" Ty couldn't stop the innocent look he gave her as he said "Me? Planning something? I don't know what you are talking about Kelly." "Come on Ty you have to be more convincing then that, I'm trained to see through that stuff." Kelly said with a laugh coming on. "I'm being serious though." Ty said still keeping his innocent look. "Liar." Kelly responded with a smile. "Oh fine you caught me Ms. Chambers." Ty said as he put his hands out, and continued "You gonna clap me in cuffs and take me away." "It's very tempting but something tells me you aren't planning something that bad." Kelly said. "You caught me yet again; I'm just working on getting information on the guy Garrus is looking for before Shepard wakes up so we can get things rolling again."

How Kelly of all people fell for the Illusive Man's bullshit Ty wasn't sure but what he was sure about was that he hid more of their dark secrets from her then he did anyone else. "Sounds like a good plan, any idea where you will start?" Kelly asked. "Not sure yet, I still have some contacts on the Citadel who keep their ears out for mercenary activity from Omega and if this guy is still on the Citadel someone had to hear about him, or at least I hope someone did." "I'm sure it will all work out, good luck down there Ty." Kelly said. "Thanks, I'll talk to you later Kelly." "I hope so Ty." Kelly said with a smile as she turned around.

Ty walked around the galaxy map and up the stairs towards the cockpit where he could see Joker and EDI bickering, as he got behind them he heard the ending of it "I just wanted to put the Normandy through its paces you don't gotta go all rogue A.I. on me and start flashing that red light around, your going to make me think you're a Reaper." Joker said. "What you were trying to do is clearly against Cerberus regulations." EDI said. Ty couldn't stop his laugh from coming on as he said "Awwww, you two make a great couple." "Yea that's like saying Jack and Miranda would make a great couple." Joker said sarcastically. "Keep your fantasies to yourself Joker, mind if I stay up here until we get there?" Ty asked.

Joker motioned to the seat on his right and said "Go ahead but be warned the mute button can fracture your thumb, it's a pain in the ass, kinda like you." Ty smiled as he sat down and said "Hey EDI when we're arriving can you call Miranda and any other key squad members to the comm room, I need to talk to them." "I will. Do you plan on going onto the Citadel?" EDI asked. "You'll see when I talk to them 'cause I want you present there too." Ty said. "I will send the message when we are arriving." EDI said. "Thanks EDI." Ty said. "You are welcome Ty." EDI said. Joker shook his head a little as he said "Well we know who won't be attacked by the A.I. if it betrays us." Ty rolled his eyes and said "Give her a break Joker she's not as bad as you say." "Okay but when we're all computing pi I'll blame you for getting friendly with the A.I." Joker said.

Arriving at the Citadel

"Hey Ty wake up, we are approaching the Citadel, whatever you want to talk to Miranda and company about you should do it now." Joker said. Ty hadn't been asleep but he had been slightly meditating and slightly thinking to himself about a lot of different subjects. Mostly his thoughts were about seeing Darian again so soon and wondering how his brother and dad were holding up since they weren't going out every day to find some Blue Suns to kill. Ty let the thoughts go as he got up and said "EDI send the message but don't tell them why, meet me in the comm room when I get there." "I will Ty." EDI said.

Ty walked down the hall and back towards the comm room, he walked through Mordin's lab nodding at him and then through his door and finally through the comm room door. He sat down on the edge of the table then crossed his legs and started to meditate as he waited for whoever EDI thought was key squad members. Jacob was the first one to walk in, then Mordin, then finally Miranda and EDI who popped up behind Ty, Ty uncrossed his legs and jumped off the table and asked "EDI is this everyone?" "Yes Ty." EDI answered. "Thanks EDI, okay I don't know if you all know the reason for why we are going to the Citadel but short version is Garrus wants Shepard's help but as we all know she's sidelined probably for the next thirty minutes to an hour, if not more, so I came up with an idea to pass the time efficiently while we wait for Snow White to wake up for the ball." Ty said looking at all four.

Though Ty wasn't sure if Mordin knew who Snow White was he probably understood the concept of what he meant since they all nodded, Ty paced a little than stopped trying to deduce how they were going to react to his plan, "When we dock I'm going to go out and find all I can on this guy that Garrus is looking for using all my contacts on the Citadel." Mordin nodded and said "Good plan Shepard will need to be the one to do the mission." Miranda and Jacob both nodded in agreement with Mordin's statement, Miranda looked to Ty and asked "Who are we going to be talking too?" _And here comes the hard part,_ "Sorry Miranda but "we" aren't talking to anyone, I am. I'm going down alone." Ty said. "On who's authority." Miranda asked with a scowl. "Mine." Ty said crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. "You may have been recruited for this mission because we needed you but you have seemed to forget who's in charge of this mission." Miranda said. Ty smirked slightly at her response, he knew damn well who was in charge and it wasn't Cerberus, "Shepard is the last time I checked since she's the one leading us to hell and back. Listen Miranda we can sit here and argue about the fact your second in command and don't want me running off on some preconceived thought that the Illusive man put in your head about me betraying the mission or you can understand my side of it." Ty said. "What is your side of it?" Jacob asked with an agitated tone.

Ty smirked and pushed himself off the wall and said "Very astute question Mr. Taylor, Shepard is gonna need to be cleared for duty while I'm out because we don't need this happening again, now tell me who's the leader of the Lazarus project?" "I am." Miranda said glaring holes into him. "Exactly and who's the best Salarian scientist we have?" Ty asked. Mordin had a proud smile as he took a deep breath than said "Me." "Exactly again and who is good at finding information and being stealthy about it who also happened to be on a Cerberus facility for two months until he got caught." Ty said. "That was you Ty." EDI answered. "Yup it was which leaves Jacob who might get in my way, Grunt who is a Krogan and not very stealthy, Jack who'd rather beat the information out of people, Garrus who will want to act on the information once I get it and Tali who could actually be useful for me but probably wants to work on the engines still which leaves me with no medical expertise and no real reason to stay on board while we wait." Ty said.

Miranda sighed in defeat and Mordin said "He makes valid points." "Fine, alright you can go by yourself but I want constant communication." Miranda said. Ty put his hand up and said "Thief's honor." "That doesn't mean much." Jacob said. Ty fought the urge to reach over to him and grab him by his collar and punch his face multiple times, "Maybe honor means nothing to you but it does to me. I'll head out once we dock and I'll leave my bike here just so you know I'm coming back since it's obvious I wouldn't leave without it. EDI I'll meet you in the cockpit for one last request." Ty said.

He turned around and walked out and all the way back to the cockpit before more words could be exchanged, as he got to the cockpit Joker said "What's that Krogan saying, oh yeah you got a quad Ty talking like that to those two." "Thanks Joker, EDI you're still on my omni-tool right?" Ty asked. "Yes Ty but remaining in the Normandy's vicinity keeps the connection stronger." EDI answered. "But back on Illium before the Normandy got there you were okay…right?" Ty asked. "I cleared up the connection as best I could but it would have become more difficult if the Normandy did not arrive when it did." "Okay I'll keep that in mind for now on. When I'm down there I'll give you updates to give to them if I have any otherwise see if you can try to keep Miranda out of my comms without her knowing unless its absolutely necessary that she needs to talk to me like if Shepard's dying, Joker starts walking normally, or if C-Sec or the Alliance are checking the ship or coming after me, I don't want her hearing me and my contacts talking." Ty said. Ty heard Joker mumble ass under his breath as EDI said "I will see what I can do but I am still regulated by Cerberus programming." "Well that means rules must be broken, Joker we docked yet?" Ty asked.

The distinct sound of the magnetic docking tools connecting onto the Normandy sounded off as Joker turned around in his seat with a grin and said "Yes we are, thank you for flying air Normandy please get your shit and get out." Ty laughed a little than said "Fine I will! Give me a heads up if Shepard brings out anyone." "I will, don't get arrested." Joker said. Ty chuckled as he walked to the air lock and said "Can't promise that."

The first step was his contacts on the Citadel, they ranged from a couple store clerks he had helped out and they decided to keep an ear to the ground about Blue Sun shipments or anything Blue Suns related to Darian who was keener on all the details. The Turian that sold guns, upgrades for guns and some stuff on the side for people like Ty was his first stop. He gave Ty a good scoop on Blue Sun shipments that had been made and their destination and ships they left on, he also gave him a little information on a new Blue Suns activity that had started a year ago for getting new identities led by a guy code named "Fade". He didn't know much else except he was good at avoiding C-Sec like he knew their protocols or something, Ty kept it all in his head and left and headed down to the bottom part of the Zakera Ward to check with his Salarian tech informant.

He gave Ty some stuff on Blue Sun tech shipments like the other guy did for him than the Salarian was able to give Ty some more information on this "Fade" guy. Apparently the Blue Suns were using him to get new identities for their members to infiltrate other organizations or just regular people to make them disappear away from people who are looking for them, which was something Ty knew this Sidonis guy would want to do with Garrus on his ass. Ty thanked him for the help and walked back up to the Dark Star lounge, one funny thing he had learned from walking past or into the stores was Shepard gave one hell of an endorsement.

As he was walking towards the doors for the lounge he saw that reporter bitch, Khalisah blah blah Al-Jilani, he didn't care to know her name because it was way to many words like a Salarian name, all he knew was she smeared not only his family but tried with Shepard when she became a Spectre. He thought about just leaving her alone but the temptation to hit her was raging in his mind so he walked in through the Dark Star doors and hit his cloak then walked back out and over to her. Before she knew it she was face down on the floor with a bruised face and a concussion, Ty had made sure his cloak would stay on long enough for him to get through the doors of the Dark Star so he wouldn't get in trouble with C-Sec.

As he got to the last doors his cloak came off and he could already feel the sound waves pushing against his body, he opened the last doors and then the sound waves from the music was hitting him. He thought it might knock his hood off but he figured if Afterlife couldn't this place sure as hell couldn't. Ty made his way towards the bar as he saw Darian holding a human man by the collar of his throat "I'm warning you one last time, get the hell out of this bar or I'll toss you out with my biotics!" Darian yelled into the mans face. Ty strolled over as the man said "Screw you Turian. She was just asking for it." "You fucking pig I-" Ty cleared his throat interrupting Darian, "Problems?" Ty asked. "Ty?" Darian asked in shock.

The man looked back at Ty and as soon as they made eye contact with each other Ty knew who it was, "You." Ty growled. "Fuck! Let me go Turian!" The man panicked. The man who had tried to slide the glass into Kiara's head all those years ago was here drunk again and doing something to another woman, his fate was sealed. "Darian remember that big bar fight all those years ago me and Kar got into?" Ty asked. Darian nodded then the realization hit him and anger made its way across his face, "This is that little shit?! You want the honors or want me to call security; they'll give him a very thorough "search" if you get my meaning." Darian said. "Fuck fuck fuck!" The man continued to panic. "Ah the old don't get mad get sadistic motto huh? Alright where is this security?" Ty asked. "Unfortunately attending to our nice bartender who this man smashed his glass into, you remember Kiara right?" Darian asked.

To say Ty's blood began to boil under his skin would have been putting it lightly, "She works here now?" Ty asked as he began to seethe. "Didn't put the pieces together until just now but she just started working here a few months ago, I didn't work with her until today though. What did you say again sir, "she was just asking for it" that was it right?" Ty didn't let him answer as he grabbed him by the back of his neck signaling for Darian to let go as Ty slammed the man's face into the counter which also happened to have a glass right where his face hit.

The glass broke across the counter and blood began to spill onto the counter, Ty leaned to the mans ear as he kept his face pressed against the counter, "If you ever come back to this bar and I hear that you hurt or you bothered or if you even glanced at Kiara ever again, I swear to you that I will kill you right where you stand. Do you understand me?" Ty asked in a calm but murderous tone. The man whimpered in response, "I didn't hear you, want to repeat that?" Ty asked. "I understand." The man responded with the fear of god in his voice. "Good, you are going to walk out of here on your own, you are going to go to the hospital and say you were so drunk that you fell face flat into your glass and broke it. If you even think about mentioning me or the bartender here doing what we did." Ty let it hang for a moment then said "They won't find your body, understand?"

The man nodded so Ty let go of him and slapped him in the back and said "Glad we understand each other buddy, now you should go get that fixed up." The man scurried off and Ty sat down at the bar and looked at Darian who had began laughing slightly, Ty joined him in a light laugh before Darian wiped the counter off, "Damn I didn't think I'd be seeing you around here while you were on that mission against the Collectors, what happened? You get kicked off for sarcasm?" Ty shook his head and said "Nah I'm here for that mission actually. Kiara alright?" Ty asked. Darian shook his head no and said "She took a bad hit; she was walking over to ask me a question about something when the bastard grabbed the drink I had just poured him and threw it at her face. She instinctually put her hands up but froze up slightly so the glass collided with the side of her head and the side of her face became immediately bloodied."

Ty shook his head in disbelief and immediately regretted not killing the man, "I told security to grab her since I already had my hands on that bastard." "That guy comes back here again or you ever hear from her that he's bothering her you let me know immediately. He will regret it." Ty stated firmly. "I will don't worry but I'm pretty sure we won't hear from him ever again, I think you made him piss himself in fear." Darian said. Ty chuckled slightly with Darian before Darian's look got more serious, "What's going on?" Darian asked. "You still keep your ear and mandibles to the ground on anything Blue Suns." Darian nodded and said "You know it, what do you need to know?" "I've talked to some guys here already and they gave me the name of a guy I'm interested in finding, I was hoping you could help me out a little more." Ty said. "What's the name?" Darian asked. "Well more of a codename but its Fade." Ty said.

Darian's mandibles moved down as he started looking around, "Hey Gary could you fill in for me for a little while, I need to talk to an old friend in private." Darian said. Ty looked where Darian was looking and saw a human walking over, Darian got out from behind the bar and said "Come on we'll talk in the back." Ty followed him to a secluded area in the back and sat down in the booth, Darian sat in front of him and said "This Fade guy is dangerous." Based on the information Ty had found that was a monumental understatement, "I figured that out after everything the other two told me, they didn't use this guy when we were in." Ty said. "Yea but look how far they've fallen since our time." Darian said with a smile. Ty smiled and said "True we were classy criminals going around stealing women's hearts, how much you know on this guy?" "I hear a lot working here but this guy keeps to himself well enough that I can't give you a specific target to go shoot, but I can give you some information that the other two might not have known." Darian said. "What's that?" Ty asked. "Captain Bailey is looking for him." Darian said as his mandibles moved up and he smirked.

Ty smirked because he knew what Darian was thinking, "Bailey you say, hmm he could get me on Fades trail and since I'm not C-Sec I wouldn't alert Fade and I could fake getting a new identity to get him." "That's what I'm thinking." Darian said. Ty pulled up his omni-tool and said "EDI you hear me." EDI popped up and said "Yes Ty what can I do for you?" "Is Shepard up and going yet?" "Partially, she's getting Garrus and getting ready to meet you down there, would you like me to send a message to her?" EDI asked. "Yeah tell her you found nothing on Fade but the C-Sec officer Bailey might be able to point her in the right direction." "I will tell her, where would you like her to meet you?" EDI asked. "Dark Star, talk to you later EDI." Ty said. "Logging you out Ty." EDI said then disappeared.

Darian began chuckling slightly which got Ty's attention, "What?" Ty asked. "Just thinking about the coincidence of that guy and Kiara being here and then you showing up." Darian said. "No such thing as coincidence; spirits just have a twisted sense of humor." Ty responded. "Your fault." Darian retorted. "Eh…yeah I guess it is. A bar fight nine, going on ten, years ago still having repercussions today." Ty said. Darian said "Who'd figure I'd be the one to pull your asses out of there, big bad Kar and the young legend of Omega busted for a bar brawl." Darian said with a chuckle. "That's why you were my second in command; you had all the good ideas and I was the bull that just went in tomahawk throwing and guns blazing. It's amazing that the youngest member was the leader." Ty said with a laugh. Darian laughed than said "I blame it on your last name. That reminds me your dad wanted me to give you something, I have it behind the counter." They both got up and they walked over to the counter where Darian dismissed Gary, Darian walked to the end of the bar that made him face the doors to the entrance and exit while Ty's back was to it. Darian pulled out two carbon copy versions of his tomahawks and set them down on the counter, "Nice, but you lost me?" Ty said picking one up. Darian ignored him and went back down and came up with two holsters that looked to be for legs and set them onto the counter, "Okay you gotta explain this one to me Darian, why did my dad want me to have two more tomahawks? I know more fire power the better but still." Ty said.

Darian chuckled and he grabbed the tomahawk from Ty's hands and laid it flat on his hand and pointed to something Ty hadn't seen, "See these little sensors across the grip, there's sensors in the holsters as well so when you throw them after they hit your target they disappear into thin air." Darian made a disappearing noise than continued "Than it pops back up in your holder for next use, not the same at all as your bludgeoning weapons. Its for those out of reach targets that you can't get or for the final mission if its as suicidal as it sounds you wont have time to pick up your tomahawks, plus these babies can be thrown at arcs and come back down at an angle to hit someone hiding behind cover."

Now that sounded like something useful, "How?" Ty asked now excited. "Your dad gave me this really in depth explanation about mass effect fields and about how the sensors pick up on brain activity, all very interesting subjects but I'll dumb it down for you." Darian said with a toothy grin. "You're an asshole Darian." Ty said. "Your fault." Darian retorted. "Now that I take no responsibility for, you were like this when I met you." Ty said. "I'm blaming you; anyway you know how biotics can launch themselves at people. A biotic charge." Darian said. "I have seen a lot of that lately actually." Ty responded. "Well the tomahawks have a similar functionality, the sensors are coded to your nervous system and pick up on all of you-" Ty had to interrupt, "How the hell did he do that?" Darian swatted Ty along the head, not to hard but not softly either and said "Silence, this is important information. Besides you know your dad, he just knows these things and he won't tell you why. As a biotic there are several training techniques to mastering how to use them, from hand motions."

Darian raised his free hand towards the tomahawk on the counter and they both became surrounded in a blue aura as the tomahawk lifted off the counter then was set back down, "To being able to do certain moves with little body motion and more thought behind it." The holsters began to become surrounded in a biotic aura while Darian showed little body movement except for a lot more focus on what he was doing, "Now with a biotic charge you're basically wrapping yourself in a throw and throwing yourself at the enemy. Now it isn't that literally but, well dumbing it down for you." Darian said. "Asshole." Ty responded with a smirk. "So when you come out the other side, well you've seen it first hand, now think about that concept and apply it here. The sensors in this are only coded to your nervous system so that means it will only pick up on your neurotransmitters, or your electrochemical waves." "So like brain waves?" Ty asked. "Right I forgot big words confuse you. I'm a Turian explaining human physiology to a human, who knew? When you toss it, your "brain waves" since I lost you with my terminology wrap the tomahawk with its signal and send it at the enemy in the way you want. When it hits something, doesn't matter what the mass effect fields reverse biotic charge them to you but instead of them flying at you they appear in your holsters." "So like a biotic teleport instead of a charge then right?" Ty asked.

Darian brought his hand to his face in exasperation and said "Spirits I wonder how I let myself be led by you sometimes. How about this, think the angle and throw, no matter if you hit or miss it'll still comeback without impaling into you." Darian said. "Oh that actually sounds pretty cool, why didn't you say that before?" Ty asked. "I did." Darian said flatly. Ty chuckled at his second in command and picked up one of the tomahawks, as soon as his hand gripped the hilt of it he saw the sensor light up green, _well then these will prove to be interesting_, Ty thought.

**A/N: That was a fun chapter to write so I hope it ended up being a fun chapter to read. Thank you all and I will see you next time.**


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Fade Out

**A/N: Just a heads up, when I originally typed this chapter it had been a long time since I played this mission so I had forgotten a lot of the layout so some of this chapter is not the same as the mission. I hope I described the differences well enough if not just let me know and I'll fix it up.**

The tomahawks fit nice on his legs and wouldn't interfere with his running or free running, he had the hilts point up like the ones on his back so he could grab, lift and throw at moments notice. Satisfied with how they fit Ty sat back down as Darian came back over after serving a few people, Darian had entertained a few of the customers by doing tricks with the bottles and using his biotics to make it more entertaining before the people all went back to dancing or sitting in one of the booths.

As Darian approached Ty remembered his talk with Chakwas and getting her some Serrice Ice Brandy and he happened to be in a bar that his best friend happened to be the lead bartender at. "Hey Darian wanna do me a huge favor?" Ty asked. "Nothings to big of a favor between us." Darian said. _He so set himself up for this one,_ Ty thought before he asked "Mind finding out what a Turian-Human hybrid baby looks like?" Darian froze up for a few seconds in shock, the look on his face made Ty begin laughing his ass off and with Darian clearing his throat a little due to being uncomfortable it only made it that much better, or worse in his case.

As Ty got his laughter under control and Darian began to relax slightly Ty said "Oh Spirits you should have seen the look on your face Darian, it-hahaha it was priceless. I'm just fucking with you but if you do happen to find out let me know, I have to place bets on whose genes are more dominant, human or Turian. I'd be willing to bet it would be Human since we both know you Turians can be a bit of pushovers." The look Darian gave Ty would have been murderous but he began chuckling slightly ruining the look. "Sorry couldn't pass up that opportunity, but on a serious note can you deliver a few crates full of Serrice Ice Brandy to the Normandy?" "When did you start drinking?" Darian asked in confusion.

Personally Ty had never touched alcohol in his life though he did always figure he'd be an aggressive drunk or a very emotional one though he wasn't going to find out. He didn't like the idea of not being in full control of his mind which was more than likely stemmed from his demon taking control. "I didn't but I am surprised you thought I would pick up that habit. Someone on board the Normandy asked me to get her a bottle; can you get that much of the stuff?" Ty asked. Darian nodded and began punching in the order on his terminal, "That's easy to do but will they let it on?" _Hmm, didn't think that far ahead,_ Ty thought. "If you tell them I ordered it they probably will, we have someone who likes to drink that kind specifically so I figure get a few crates so she can have more than a bottle when she wants and maybe set up a lounge or something so the crew can have a few drinks when they want." Ty said. "I'll send some other alcohols as well then, some people like stronger stuff, like Batarian Ale or Ryncol." Darian said. "'Cause I need a drunken Krogan fighting with me?" Ty asked. "Kar did a great job at it." Darian responded. "Yea bu- eh alright good point." "Alright the orders been sent and will arrive within the next hour or two. Someone is gonna be pissed I bet but it'll be to late then." Darian said with a light laugh.

That made Ty smirk a little thinking of the look on Miranda's face when she figured out what it was, _"What in the bloody hell are you doing with all this liquor?" Uh nothing?_ Ty thought to himself. Ty then remembered the other thing Chakwas told him and asked "You go shopping for reading material other than Fornax Darian?" "I don't read Fornax." Darian stated. "You're right, you look at the pictures of Human Turian couples, am I right? Ow!" Ty yelled as he grabbed his left arm where Darian punched him. This time Darian's death glare stayed on his face, "Geez alright you don't read it, I was just kidding." Ty said. "I haven't shopped for a book in years, why are you asking?" Darian asked. "I was hoping you could order a random assortment of human adventure novels and send it to the Normandy, preferably good adventure novels." Ty asked. Darian gave Ty a bit of a confused look as he asked, "Bored?" Ty shook his head in response, he enjoyed reading as a kid but he hadn't had the time to read a book since he was thirteen. "Not for me, besides when was the last time you heard me mention being bored?" "Good point; I'll do that for you don't worry." Darian said.

Ty opened his omni-tool and scanned a thousand credits into Darian's terminal and said "Hey Darian open your omni-tool real quick." Darian opened it and Ty sent two hundred thousand more credits to him, Darian's mandibles fell slack and the shocked look Ty was expecting showed itself, "Ty I can't take that." Darian said. Ty closed his omni-tool, this was not going to be up for discussion, "There's a thousand in your terminal, I figure the Citadel steals a little for taxes which is why I sent it to you personally." Ty said.

One of the best things about being on the wrong side of the law Ty had found was not paying taxes, Ty knew Darian had spent a lot of the credits he earned back when they had to hide his past and though Darian was still well off he wasn't off as great as he was years back. The account Ty had sent the money to was a secured account that the Citadel could not track, if it had been Ty was sure C-Sec would drop in on Darian and ask him how he managed to make two hundred thousand credits in one day, not something Ty was sure even Darian could talk his way out of. Darian shook his head and said "Ty I can't take that from you that's-" Ty wasn't going to let him debate it anymore "That's some money so you can buy some stuff for yourself that you've been wanting and get something special for Jessica. I owe you for everything you do for me Darian and everything you've spent your own money on to help me and all the information you gathered through the years. I know you spent that huge chunk of credits you had, I'm no fool." "You can't just give me two hundred thousand credits Ty, you need some credits too." Darian said.

That wasn't true in the slightest; Ty had more credits than he knew what to do with and rarely ever spent. Ty shook his head at Darian again and said "Don't forget the credits I used to make working for Aria and then all the money I made thieving and hunting Blue Suns, each base we took down had at least seven hundred thousand credits after I hacked all their bank accounts. I would give you more but I don't want you to retire from your bartending job, C-Sec would investigate you and find a trail back to me and find out about your past that we hid so covertly." Darian shook his head and Ty said "It's me starting to pay back my debts Darian, think of it that way." Darian nodded a little and closed his omni-tool "Thank you." Darian said. "And thank you for still being a great friend." Ty said. Ty reached over the counter and grabbed two empty glasses and gave one to Darian. "Water for you?" Darian asked. "Of course." Ty said.

Darian filled Ty's glass up with water and filled himself a dextro drink, they tapped the glasses together and they both drank them down, as Ty put his glass down he had a quick memory of his whole squad raising glasses at one of their shore leaves. Darian seemed to share the same thought since they both had solemn looks on their faces, "I miss those bastards." Darian stated. "You and me both." Ty responded. They both held a moment of silence, _one day we'll all share a drink of some sort again but that day is still far in the future_, Ty thought. Ty heard the doors behind him open and he asked "A human and a Turian both armed to the teeth?" With their moment of silence over Darian looked up and said "Yea, are these your people?" "Yea, pour us one more, maybe the last one we have together for a while." Ty said. Darian poured the drinks again and Shepard and Garrus got next to Ty, "Hey guys what's taken you so long?" Ty asked. "Shepard took her time getting ready; you know how you humans are when it comes to spending time in front of a mirror." Garrus said. "You try being on a sedative and get your armor on right without messing up." Shepard retorted with a smile.

A light chuckle escaped both Ty and Darian, "Is that how we sound?" Ty asked with a smile. Darian got a toothy grin and said "Ty we are way worse than that, hell our whole squad was like that, remember Gallick and Carson and the shit that they always dragged us into." Ty started laughing, bar fights with normal people, bar fights with other mercenaries, gun battles between them and local law enforcement. There wasn't much that Gallick and Carson didn't drag Ty and Darian into, Gallick was usually the cause since Carson was a more nervous person and always trying to broker peace between fights but he always was there watching Gallick's back when he got in trouble. _"I'll die before I leave my comrades behind and I'll suffer all the torture that the Spirits can think of before I leave my friends behind." Carson said. Amen Carson,_ Ty thought. "Or Brad and Whitney and their arguments." Ty said getting out of his thoughts. Darian shook his head and said "Man those two were at each others throats all the time."

There wasn't a fight Ty hadn't seen them get into, whether it was over sports teams or something more serious the two always were at physical blows with each other. Ty could hardly believe that they would pound each others face in over a sports team but that somehow happened and he was still not quite sure how it ended in blows. They both liked the same team. "So you must be the famous Darian that Ty speaks so highly of." Shepard said with a smile. Ty pulled himself from his thoughts and said "Sorry where are my manors, Garrus, Shepard this is my second in command, oldest friend and bartender of the Citadel Darian Talin, Darian this is Garrus Vakarian. He worked with Shepard when she went after Saren and you probably know him better from Omega gossip as Archangel." Ty said. "How far did that spread?" Garrus asked. Darian chuckled and said "They really hated you but I keep tabs on all things Omega for Ty here which is how I know." Darian looked back at Ty and asked "Is he better than you at sniping? I heard some crazy stories on Archangel." Darian asked. "Well we haven't done a proper test but we'll call it a draw for now." Ty said. "We'll find out someday." Garrus said. Ty pointed to Shepard and said "And last but certainly not least Darian this is the one and only Commander Shepard, she saved your ass from Saren and Sovereign, saved the galaxy's ass from complete destruction, saved my ass from being dead, helped me save Haley, and gave me my round trip ticket to hell and back." Ty said.

Darian nodded at them in respect and said "Pleasure to meet you both; I hope you two can keep this bastard out of trouble, I did my best back in our day as mercenaries." Garrus shrugged slightly and said "We try our best but its not easy being his friend." Ty began laughing with Darian, that had to be the understatement of the decade, that and saying the Reapers were dangerous. "You're telling me; he dragged me all around the galaxy to cause trouble and make a difference but despite being the youngest of our bunch I did learn a thing or two from him. Never did I know that in one night you can be slapped seven times by seven different women just because of one woman."

_Now that wasn't entirely my fault…okay maybe it was slightly but that is beside the point, _Ty thought to himself. "There you go bringing that up again, it wasn't my fault. I didn't know how they all felt about me and the first was 'cause I hadn't called her for a week." Ty said. "A week, that's harsh Ty." Shepard said with a smirk. "Hey wait a minute don't jump to conclusions, I had an alibi. I was out with Darian and the crew working and I couldn't tell her where we were because we had gone silent all the way there and back but she didn't listen." Ty said defensively. Darian chuckled and said, "You had it coming, anyway I don't want to keep you from your business and I got business of my own to deal with so Ty." Darian lifted up his glass and Ty did the same and Darian said "Good luck my friend, sounds like your gonna need it where your headed." "And to having friends like you that get me into trouble and give me shit about it. Take good care of yourself Darian." Ty said.

They tapped their glasses and drank their drinks, Ty put the glass down and said "If I don't come back take good care of Jess and keep in contact with the family. You've been a great friend and after all the shit we've been through together since the beginning you've always had two things of mine, my trust and my respect, you were like a brother to me and always will be." Darian nodded and said "You're a great leader and friend Ty; you kept me from going down the wrong path and taught me a good sense of morals and code to live by. You were the human brother I never thought I'd have or want but never the less we'll share another drink when you get back. You've never been known to stay dead all it ever did was piss you off, see you when you get back." Darian said.

Ty nodded at him saying goodbye and got off his seat, the odds with the mission right now were low and if Ty wasn't going to come back he had to say what he hadn't to Darian back on Illium. Ty was confident in Shepard and knew they'd find a way to stop the Collectors but if Ty had to choose between sacrificing himself to save a crew member or letting them die, he'd chose sacrificing himself any day of the week. "Lead the way Shepard." Ty said. Shepard looked at him for a moment reading his facial features that were visible from under the hood, he knew that he probably had a slightly solemn look on his face but he was letting the feeling go so he could focus on the mission at hand. Shepard motioned to the exit and asked, "Wanna fill us in on what you found as we walk?"

Business was always a good way to get the mind off things, unless that business was a revenge mission then you were pretty much stuck in a quagmire of sadness and anger Ty had found out. As they began walking Ty said, "There is a guy named Fade here on the Citadel somewhere and he forges identification for the Blue Suns so they can infiltrate businesses or disappear like our dear friend Sidonis obviously was trying to do. No one really knows who he is so that makes him similar to the Shadow Broker in a way but he is a lot more sloppier then that asshole and has C-Sec stewing over what he does since he chose the side against the law. Now when I was in the Suns they didn't have this guy but the Blue Suns use it to infiltrate businesses and corporations hell probably even other merc groups and military shit because what is better than a spy?" Ty asked. "What?" Shepard asked. "A splinter group waiting to take you down from the inside. Captain Bailey is trying to find him and isn't doing so good since the guy knows C-Sec codes or something of that sort but I figure we set up a meeting and see who this guy is then make him squeal till we get the information we need on Sidonis. I did a search on this Sidonis guy and he showed up on the Citadel than disappeared off the map so I know for a fact this Fade guy has what we're looking for. Only one problem is the only way to get to him is setting up a meeting because he keeps himself so far down under that he probably has head up his own ass." Ty said.

They walked down the stairs to the next level and Shepard said "Bailey already got us the meeting now all we have to do is meet him and get the information." It always sounds easier than it turns out but Ty was hopeful that this Fade guy would be smart enough to just give them the information since Garrus looked like he would rip the person's spine out and beat them with it if he was given the chance. If the guy was a Blue Sun though then he would either know of Ty and plead mercy or try to cash in the reward. "Hopefully this guy aint a Blue Suns member because if he is he may know me and that means it'll either be, one, a gun fight or B the quickness interrogation you've ever seen." Ty said. "I wouldn't mind B." Garrus said dryly. They got down the next flight of stairs to the bottom part of the ward then they walked over to the warehouse where some guy was complaining about an omni-gel converter that he had spent two years trying to get the refund to. _Now that is what I call persistence,_ Ty thought. "Ty if it isn't a Blue Suns member let us do the talking, no offense but this is something I want to do personally." Garrus said.

Considering Ty had gone off on his own to extract revenge and save Haley Ty wasn't sure why Garrus thought that he would try to act like it was his mission but considering what they were trying to do Ty also understood why he would want to make sure Ty didn't interrupt. Revenge was a lot like sniping, patience was key and it couldn't be rushed. Ty nodded regardless and said "No problem Garrus, besides I know my interrogation skills aren't exactly safe for the person I'm interrogating. You two go right ahead and do your thing; I'm just here to look mysterious and armed to the teeth." They walked through the door and Shepard stopped, as she did two Krogan walked over with Avengers in their hands and than to Ty's surprise a Volus came out, "So you want to disappear?" The Volus asked. It took all of Ty's focus and will power to not fall to the floor laughing and even more will power to stifle the laugh. _That little guy is going to make someone disappear bull-haha bullshit. Oh what glorious bullshit this is, and he thinks he's so tough with those Krogans there, like he actually could make someone disappear. Congratulations Fade I'm shaking from trying to hold back my laughter instead of out of fear_, Ty thought.

With all his will power focused on not laughing his ass off he almost didn't notice everyone draw their guns, he immediately grabbed one tomahawk in his right hand and his pistol in his left hand and aimed the gun at the Krogans, "I dare you to try." Ty threatened. To his surprise they just shrugged and walked away so Ty put his weapons back and sat down on the counter between the Volus and Garrus, "So Harkin went completely bad." Shepard said. _Harkin where have I heard his name before? Wait wasn't he that washed up C-Sec agent that was corrupt and really made humans look like shit. He probably still has some access to C-Sec files and he knows their protocols_. "And if we don't find him there we'll be back to find you." Garrus said as Shepard aimed her gun at the Volus. "Oh..fun…" The Volus said. "Don't worry squirt the last guy that lied to me only ended up dead…after I beat his face in with my bare hands." Ty said cheerfully as he hopped off the counter and started following Shepard and Garrus.

The Volus muttered oh under his breath before Ty heard the distinct sound of him falling over, _haha oops_, Ty thought. The squad walked over to the taxi and got in with Ty taking the back seat and Garrus and Shepard taking the driver and passenger seat. With what Ty had heard of Shepard's driving from the unlucky bastards who got stuck in the Hammerhead with her and then the stories he had heard about the Mako he was more than happy that Garrus was in the driver seat of the skycar. As they started flying Ty began to remember more and more on Harkin, he remembered during the Geth attack on the Citadel the bastard had been arresting some "vandals" and beating the crap out of them.

The vandals happened to be civilians looking through the wreckage of their house for their belongings, more importantly a gun to fight the onslaught of Geth that were there and Harkin had a previous history with them where he had tried to frame them for a crime and did not succeed in it equaling a note in the file for him. Most of the information Ty knew now on the bastard he didn't know until after he and his brother knocked Harkin out and put omni-cuffs on him so C-Sec could do what they needed to do with him, which might have been one of the reasons he was fired. The civilians claimed citizen's arrest for them and brought him to the station while Ty and Z made sure the Geth didn't go after them. "Harkin huh, like I said he has his head way far up his own ass." Ty said in a joking manor. There was a muffled laugh from Shepard but Garrus remained quiet.

As they were getting closer Ty began to wonder what the protocol for this mission would be, was it a kill everyone in sight unless they were civilian mission or a talk our way through this kind of thing. Ty didn't really know what they were heading into, he wasn't sure if they knew either but he needed to know if he was going to keep himself at the ready or not, "So what's the deal? We kill anyone who gets in our way unless they're innocent or Harkin?" Shepard nodded as she looked back at Ty and said "Hopefully we get Harkin by himself but otherwise yeah, if there are Blue Suns in the way we kill them to get to Harkin." "And then after we get the information from Harkin then what?" Ty asked. "We kill Sidonis." Garrus said in a serious manor. Ty was sitting in the left seat so he could make eye contact with Shepard so he looked at her to see how she felt but the look she gave him was a leave it alone I'll handle it look. Ty was content with it because he didn't want to stand between Sidonis's head and Garrus's sniper rifle.

They landed in the industrial area and disembarked from the cab and Ty saw more than a few Blue Suns and the short balding man who he probably had ended up assisting in getting fired. Harkin looked at the group and squinted trying to see if his eyes were deceiving him than he realized who he was looking at, "Shepard but you were dead." Harkin said in astonishment. Harkin saw Ty and his astonishment grew more, "You!" Harkin yelled. "Beating civilians wasn't enough was it? You couldn't let go of the power could you, you bald prick." Ty said. Ty grabbed his tomahawks from his legs but waited for the order to kill, Harkin knew he was out matched Ty could see it in his eyes, "What are you waiting for shoot them!" Harkin yelled as he started running. "Oh no you don't!" Ty yelled as he threw his both of them at Harkins legs. They wanted him alive not dead but no one said anything about not wounding the man. The tomahawks flew across to him but as they reached Harkin the hydraulic doors closed saving his legs from being pierced, "RUN ALL YOU WANT HARKIN WE'LL FIND YOU!" Garrus yelled pulling out his Vindicator.

Everyone went for cover and Ty felt a sudden weight back on his legs, he looked down quickly and saw his tomahawks sitting nicely in his holsters once again,_ neurotransmitters, electrochemical waves he said, I might need to study up on that stuff,_ Ty thought as a smirk found its way to his face. "Damn that's cool." Ty said to himself while smirking. Ty was behind a waist high crate for cover while Shepard was at a taller one and Garrus was behind a waist high one as well, Ty pulled out his pistols than stood up and shot two of the Blue Suns in the head breaking through their low level shields and killing them, Shepard peeked out of her cover and fired four shots from her pistol blasting through ones shield and killing the other she shot the other two shots at.

Seeing the opportunity on the guy with no shields to either interrogate on how much forces they had or kill right away Ty took the opportunity and shot him in the foot making him drop his gun as he let out a scream and start hopping around on his other foot. Ty couldn't stop the smile or laugh that came out as he said "I kinda feel bad now, should I kill him or just let him hop around for a little while to interrogate him." "Do you think he would know anything?" Shepard asked with a smile. "I know tons of stuff!" The man yelled. "I doubt it." Ty said. "Yea me too, I think he is lying to us." Shepard said in a joking manor. "Wait!" The man yelled. "Do you think he realizes we don't care?" Ty asked. Shepard shook her head as a laugh was coming on, "I don't think he does." Shepard said. Before Ty could grab his tomahawk to kill the guy Garrus shot a burst of bullets that landed in-between the mercs eyes, Garrus lowered his weapon and said "One less to worry about."

Ty followed in behind the two with his pistols still gripped in his hands as they walked through the first set of doors, as they were walking Ty got a good look at the place, it was full of crates and machinery and more than likely crawling with Blue Suns and mechs just waiting for them. "Blue Suns incoming." Shepard said as she ran to a low crate. _Sometimes I hate being right_, Ty thought. Ty followed her to the crate and counted six Suns plus a few mechs before he got behind cover, "Shepard I got a cloak do you want me to scout ahead or just get into the group and start killing?" Ty asked. "Which would you prefer?" Shepard asked as she got out of cover and shot a few shots. Ty didn't like that they were blind to this place, now they usually didn't know a lot about the places they were going to but this place only had one pathway which screamed trap to Ty. The crates on his left though looked like a great perch to snipe from and if he could prevent them from walking into a trap he would happily oblige to climbing around like a monkey. "We might be walking straight into a trap for all we know, corners are too tight to get a good grasp on everything. If you and Garrus can handle it I'll get high and set up a perch for scouting and sniping." Ty said.

Shepard got out of cover again and shot more probably killing another guy than she got back in cover as Garrus started opening fire on the Suns, "Me and Garrus got this but do me a favor and don't get shot." Shepard said. Ty shook his head slightly and said "Why does everyone always tell me that, it's not like a make a habit of getting shot." Ty brought up his omni-tool to activate his cloak as Shepard said "But you do make a habit of getting yourself into trouble, get going and be careful." Shepard said. _Now that, that is true._ "There you go again always ordering me around and shit; see ya on the flip side." Ty said in a joking manor as he hit his cloak and started moving.

Now Ty was no mountain climber but he began to feel like one as he climbed up crate after crate trying to find the best place to get a grip and not slip and hurt himself. Thankfully that wasn't to hard since they were just crates and not un-even walls of rock so the climb only took two minutes to get up to the perch he had seen from the ground. Ty looked down at the ground so he could get a better read on the area and as he suspected there was only way forward or backward, less chance of ambush from behind but still a high chance of running into a trap ahead. Despite how good of a post the place would have been Shepard and Garrus had gotten further through so Ty began to find his way across all the crates so he could follow Shepard and Garrus.

It really wasn't that hard to find them with Ty's great eye sight and hearing, all he had to do was find the explosions and gunfire and that was right Shepard and Garrus would be so when he finally found them he sat himself on a crate and unfolded his rifle, his cloak was still on as he aimed down his sights and looked for Garrus and Shepard's exact location in the fray. They looked to be in the thick of it but as Ty scouted ahead he saw more Suns preparing for them, "Shepard you read me?" Ty asked as he moved back to their position and got a target in sight. "I read you Ty, are you set up?" Shepard asked. "Yup, you got about twenty Blue Suns and thirteen mechs between you and that building ahead, just give me the word when you want me to start raining hell." Ty said. Shepard gave an exasperated sigh as she said "I should've figured Harkin wasn't going to play fair, do you have eyes on our position?" "Yup, want me to fire a warning shot so you can see how well I can see you?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "I'll take your word for it." Shepard said with a chuckle. "Just say when." Ty said. Ty inhaled a deep breath and then Shepard said, "When."

Ty let out his breath then took another deep breath and held it, he had his targets in his head there was five of them all hiding behind cover from Shepard and Garrus but right in his line of sight. It was going to be a massacre, his reticle moved over the first targets head and his finger pushed down on the trigger letting off a distinctive thundering bang. Ty didn't wait to see the body fly he just moved to his next target and shot again, than to the next, and the next, than finally the last who just watched his four partners in front of him get picked off with ease. Bang, blood sprayed into the ground because of the angle and the guy fell to the ground hard. "Good shooting Ty." Shepard said. "See I can make it dance." Ty said. "Some of us can make it tango though." Garrus said. "…Good one." Ty responded. "Thanks." Garrus said. There wasn't much else Ty could do from his angle so he began to get up as he said "I gotta move to the next position, it'll be few minutes. Try to take some of these guys out; their numbers aren't thinning fast enough for my liking." Ty said as he put his gun onto the back of his waist and started climbing again. "I don't think their numbers are going to matter that much with our fire power." Shepard said.

That was a true statement but Ty didn't respond as he began his trek across the crates, he had to find another good perch that gave him sight on everyone with little to no obstructions so he could cover the pair better. Ty sized up his next perch and sat down as he started hearing repeated explosions and a mini-gun of some sort. As Ty looked down his scope he saw the source of all the noise_, a YMIR mech, I hate Harkin even more now,_ Ty thought. "Why is it always the YMIR mech? Why can't it just be the FENRIS mech?" Ty asked as he started setting up again. "You mind giving us a hand with this?" Garrus asked. There happened to be a few Blue Suns with the mech to and they were moving up with the mech getting closer and closer to Shepard and Garrus while Shepard charged up her Arc Projector. Ty took a deep breath and shot a Blue Sun member in the head sending him flying into his buddy but not killing the second guy, that would keep them at bay for a moment giving Ty time to adjust to the mechs mini-gun arm. "Ty?" Shepard asked as the mech aimed its gun at her. The wire holding it together had been moving more than Ty had liked, "Ty any day now!" Shepard yelled. As the gun began to wind up the wire stiffened and gave Ty the moment he needed.

The bang from his sniper rifle echoed across the industrial area and the round pierced through the wiring making it fall limp. His new moment had opened itself so he could take down the mech while it was malfunctioning, Ty pulled his trigger again but he was surprised to see the heat sink vent itself and begin beeping at him. "Son of a bitch." Ty said to himself. He had forgotten to reload his clip, he never forgot to reload but when he did it was always at the crappiest times. He ejected the thermal clip and loaded a new one in but by the time he got his eyes back on the battlefield the giant mech was shooting its missile…at him. "Ty move!" Shepard yelled. "Not this shit again." Ty said in disappointment.

He scrambled to his feet and jumped off the crates he was on down to the next set of crates that happened to be about fifteen feet down and six feet away, the missile struck his last position and as he picked himself up Shepard's voice came through his comm "Ty did you manage to dodge that missile?" Shepard asked. "Yea thankfully, I don't want to have to get my other side replaced." Ty said. "We're almost at the building are you coming down or is there a way across to the next area for you?" Shepard asked. "I'll stay up here and climb to the next area so you still have sniper support." Ty said. "Okay, be careful." Shepard said. "Yes dear." Ty said sarcastically.

Ty started climbing across the crates to the building which was in between the first section of the warehouse and the second, if it wasn't for the fact that he was well conditioned he would have been panting with everything he had climbed but he was doing fine with energy and was already set up waiting for Shepard and Garrus to come out of the building. The lay out of the area was intelligent for the Blue Suns with platforms lifted up giving the Suns the high ground and Shepard and Garrus one the ground with little visual on the higher up Suns. It would've been a good plan if it weren't for the fact Ty was on a high level and the fact that it was Commander Shepard and Garrus they were fighting, little advantages like this wouldn't do them any good even if Ty wasn't around.

Shepard and Garrus were still in the building doing whatever they were doing maybe talking maybe pressing buttons but they had a hell of a welcoming committee waiting for them and Ty was itching to start taking some out since waiting for orders was never one of his strong suits_. Come on you two what's taking you so long, I might just start the party without you. Harkin is waiting in the booth thing down there just watching like he has some ace up his sleeve._ Shepard and Garrus finally came out of the building with their guns drawn which to Ty was the signal to start shooting; he figured that Garrus and Shepard could handle the ground guys so he took aim on the guys on the platforms. The thundering crack of his sniper rifle resounded across the room; one by one they fell until the remaining mercenaries found his position and started opening fire. Feeling that he overstayed his welcome Ty got to his feet quickly and started running and jumping across all the crates dodging bullets hoping none would graze him since he didn't want to hear it from Shepard or Miranda.

He ran out of room, not a big surprise but it was unfortunate since he had two choices, jump down about fifty feet and probably break a leg or jump to a platform full of Blue Suns while Shepard and Garrus worked their way across the lower platforms. _Bones will heal but I don't want to be sidelined again, well time to tomahawk our way through the competition._ Ty put his sniper away quickly then jumped as far as he could from the crates to the closest platform and even with his big jump he was only able to grip the edge of the platform. As he started pulling himself up a Turian came over with an Avenger and aimed it down at him, thinking quickly and using what was left of his strength from climbing and then this fall Ty pulled himself up and grabbed the Turian by the arm moving the gun away from his face all the while pulling him off the platform. The Turian fell over Ty's head and let out a scream as he fell, "Have a nice fall asshole." Ty said as he pulled himself up completely.

The Suns were now fixated on Ty and did not seem very happy that Ty had made it onto their platform, Ty pulled his regular tomahawks out and threw one at one of the mercs and the other at another hitting them both in the heads killing them instantly. As the other three mercs tried to figure out what happened Ty pulled out his other tomahawks and threw them at two of the other mercs hitting one in the chest and the other in the throat. The last merc was in shock as Ty walked across the platform and his secondary tomahawks came back into his leg holsters, as Ty got to him the merc decided to try and fight back by throwing his gun down and throwing a punch that Ty actually didn't see coming.

The punch landed hard against his cheek and knocked him back a step, thankfully no teeth were dislodged but Ty happened to bite his tongue making the taste of blood fill his mouth along with the pain. Ty spat out the blood in his mouth then turned his head slowly back to the merc and let the merc throw another punch but this one he caught. He twisted the arm so his elbow was facing up at him and slammed his palm down into it breaking it. Ty kicked the guy in the chest as he let go of the arm making the man stand straight up then he kicked the mans knee out breaking it. The man fell to the ground and Ty stamped on the back of his neck breaking it, as Ty thought he was done something hit the back of his leg bringing him to his knees and then leaving him leveled on the ground from a hard punch to his face. _Not a good start,_ Ty thought as he saw the Turian he thought had taken a fall standing above him.

**A/N: Dun dun dun, I think I ended up splitting all loyalty missions that Ty goes on into two chapters like I did this one, so I'd expect cliffhangery endings like this though I wouldn't call this a cliffhanger since cliffhangers are like if I had it look like Ty died and then ended the chapter from Shepard's POV or someone else's POV without you knowing if he had actually died, though inference would prove he didn't since, well the prologue and the fact I said there is a sequel to this…or does he meet his fate in the sequel and introduce a new main character…hmm. Right anyway I'll see you all next time.**


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The Blur of Friend or Foe

Instinct had kicked in as Ty found himself on the ground staring up at the Turian who he had swore fell to his death. Ty ran through what he had done again trying to figure out how the Turian could have spared himself, he remembered a clanging noise and if it had been him falling to the ground they wouldn't be staring at each other as they were. _He must have grabbed onto the platform somewhere and pulled his way back up here_, Ty thought. The Turian went to stamp Ty into the ground but only met the ground; Ty rolled backwards onto his feet and punched the Turian in the side of his face making the Turian stumble putting distance between the two. Ty took up his fighting stance as he noticed the lack of markings on the Turians face; a smirk crept onto his face as he said "So Harkin and the Suns have a bare face among their ranks." "Ty that was pretty low." Garrus said over the comm.

Maybe it was maybe it wasn't but Ty ignored the comment as the Turian let out a yell as he came at Ty looking ready to rip Ty to shreds. _Hit a nerve,_ Ty thought, _good._ Ty dodged to the side and kicked the Turian in the back making him stumble to the ground and try to get back on his feet, "Bare faces can't be trusted I heard, all frowned upon by their own race. So did your parents disown you or were you all cast out for having no marks?" Ty asked goading the Turian. The Turian charged Ty again but this time he landed a punch to Ty's gut and followed it with three more after grabbing Ty by the back of the neck so he wouldn't go anywhere. _Might have deserved that,_ Ty thought.

The Turian opened his hand up as he brought his fist back again and Ty knew what he had in mind, _my face already has a scar I don't need a Turian talon marking my face let alone gouging my eyes._ As the hand came back at Ty he grabbed it at the wrist and then used his other arm to elbow the Turian in the gut and then as his grip loosened Ty fired off another elbow right into the Turians jaw. Ty followed the Turian and gave the Turian an uppercut elbow that he followed with rapid punches to the Turians gut and then punctuating with a kick to the groin. As the Turian bent over Shepard's voice chimed in Ty's ear, "Ty we got two giant mechs, can you assist us a little?" Shepard asked with the sound of gunfire echoing in the background. The Turian recovered forcing Ty to block a punch as he said "A little busy Shepard." Ty blocked another punch but grabbed it and twisted the arm and tried to snap it over his shoulder but the Turian read the move and stopped him from doing it by head butting Ty in the back of the head. "Yeah well we have two giant mechs tearing apart our cover and we need some help so finish up whatever you're doing and get your ass over here." Shepard said.

Ty fell forward but caught himself before he hit the ground and got himself back onto his feet before the Turian decided to finish him, "Ty Miss Lawson wants to talk to you." EDI said in his comm. "Oh for fucks sake, patch her through." Ty said as he punched the Turian in the face. Ty followed the Turian but ended up getting an uppercut that was followed by a big kick to his gut, "Would you like to explain why five crates full of Serrice Ice Brandy and other alcohols just got put onto the Normandy?" Miranda asked with irratance. As the Turian went for another punch Ty brought his left arm up deflecting the blow and moving his arm out of the way leaving him open for a punch which Ty took hitting the Turian with a hard right haymaker. Before the Turian could recover Ty grabbed his right arm and kicked the Turian in the knee making him drop down to his knees and then he began pounding the Turians face with his right hand as he said "Because I ordered it, why..wont..you..die!" "Excuse me?" Miranda asked. "Not you I'm kinda in the middle of something, just die already." Ty said as he continued pounding the Turians face but he was still conscious and trying to break free.

The Turian blocked Ty's punch and managed to break free and push Ty away but as he stood up Ty was back on him landing a knee to the Turian's gut making him lurch over than he followed it up with a knee to the face making him return to a standing position as he grabbed his face, "Did you also order these stories?" Miranda asked. _Spirits woman,_ Ty thought. "Can you give me a minute Miranda?" Ty asked as he grabbed the Turian again and punched him in the gut. This fight was taking to long it was time to put the Turian down once and for all, "Come on bare face fight back." Ty said. The Turian growled and managed to break out of Ty's hold by pushing him away onto the ground, Ty hit the ground but he rolled himself onto his back and had a pistol drawn with a smirk.

The Turian reached for his pistol but found nothing, "Misplace this did ya." Ty said as he motioned to the gun. Before the Turian could respond or attempt to flee Ty fired three shots into the Turians torso making him stumble backwards towards the edge. As he got to the edge Ty said "This time stay dead." Ty fired another shot into the Turians throat knocking him off the platform and down to the far ground below, Ty threw the pistol to the side and got up to go help Shepard and Garrus who were still under fire by both mechs after he grabbed his regular tomahawks that were still in the bodies of the two mercs he had killed. Ty pulled out his sniper and sat down on the edge of the platform as he took aim at one of the mechs. The mechs had both Garrus and Shepard pinned down and it looked like the only way they were going to be able to get out of the situation was a distraction or by Ty taking the mechs out. Ty fired hitting it the mech in the side of the head knocking its shields down and getting its attention.

Shepard moved around the side of her cover and began firing at the mech as Ty fired again hitting it in the face and fired off another since it still wasn't down. The mech was still standing but didn't have any armor protecting it anymore as Shepard and Ty fired kept up their fire making it finally blow up. "That's one now lets take care of asshole number two." Ty said to himself. "Can you talk now?" Miranda asked. _Persistent woman_, Ty thought. Before Ty could answer Shepard's voice came through his comm, "Ty move your ass that thing is about to fire a rocket." Ty looked down at the mech and saw it aiming at him, _not this shit again,_ Ty thought as he got to his feet and did a move that even he thought was stupidly insane.

There were a lot of things Ty had done that he shouldn't have done or shouldn't have been able to walk away from but this new stunt ranked near the top of that list. Ty soon figured out that there was nothing like a missile exploding right behind you as you are flying in the air to a platform ten feet away and about thirty feet down. Ty considered his options in the milliseconds that he had and he didn't even consider just diving back, he decided to jump forward as the missile flew at him. "SHIIIITTT!" Ty yelled as he flew through the air. He began to regret his decision as he felt gravity take hold but he soon began to regret it even more as the missile impacted on the platform he was just on and sent a shockwave knocking Ty out of his jump sending him flailing at the ground. The landing was hard and about as ungraceful as a Krogan dancer, Ty hit the platform with his back and then proceeded to roll even less gracefully across it until he came to a sliding stop on his chest at the edge of the platform.

Pain rumbled across Ty's body even through his cybernetics which told him that he did everything except stick the landing, "Ty are you alright?" Shepard asked frantically. "Uhhh fuck me. Do Krogans still have a quad?" Ty asked as he pushed himself onto his hands and knees. "Compared to you, no but if you mean in general than yea." Shepard said with a chuckle. "Then I'll be fine, you take care of that mech?" Ty asked getting to his feet. There was an explosion than Shepard said "It's gone."

Ty walked to the edge of his platform and hopped down to the ground where Shepard and Garrus were, he nodded at them and said "Harkins trapped up there but he has a way out in there I'm pretty sure but there is a way to block him off. I say two of us go in the way he expects while the other goes around the other side and cuts him off." "Solid plan, Garrus you want to block Harkin?" Shepard asked as she looked at Garrus. Garrus nodded firmly and said, "I'll cut him off, you two get the other side…Bare face Ty?" Ty gave a sheepish smile and said "Yea sorry but I honestly couldn't stop my mouth from pissing him off, sorry if you took any offence despite not having a bare face yourself since I know it's a really bad insult among your people." Garrus shook his head and said "Don't worry about it just weird hearing it from a human." Ty nodded and said "Well we still gotta climb so let's get to it."

As they were climbing Miranda's voice came into his comm again "Dammit Ty I want answers."_ She really is upset about this, huh maybe I should ask in the future…Nah, _Ty thought. "Yes and yes I ordered both for separate purposes it came out of my own money not Cerberus funds so calm your round ass down." Ty said as he climbed up the last ledge. "Why did you order crates of liquor? You don't even drink alcohol." Miranda stated. "Chakwas does it's a present from me to her, the rest of the alcohol is for the crew if they ever need to cut loose. I think there is some Ryncol in there for Grunt as well so watch out if you decide to drink some of it. Do you want me to get you something too so you don't feel left out, maybe a vibrator so you can blow off some steam or a night with my brother so you can blow off a lot of steam." Ty said in a joking manor. "You're unbelievable." Miranda said in a disbelieving tone.

Ty leaned over the edge and put his hand out for Shepard to grab, she grabbed his arm and he pulled her up the last ledge and helped her to her feet as Garrus went to the other side, "You've told me that before but it doesn't change the facts that you need to blow off steam and you were eye fucking my brother when he was on board." Ty said pulling out his pistols. "This conversation is over." Miranda said then shut the comm off. "You ready Ty?" Shepard asked with a smirk. "Ready, let's get this bastard." Ty said.

Shepard lead the way into the room and Harkin started running to the other set of doors like Ty expected, "You were close Shepard but not close enough." Harkin said as he got to the other doors. Ty smirked as Garrus came flying in using his rifle to smack Harkin in the face. Blood formed at Harkins nose but Garrus grabbed him and started dragging him back into the room, thus started the conversation between the three as Ty started fiddling around with his gear since he figured he should keep his mouth shut.

Garrus kneed Harkin in groin than Shepard followed it up with a smart ass remark about how it had to hurt which made Ty laugh a little but then things got serious as Garrus stamped onto Harkins chest and said "You know what else is bad for business, a broken neck!" "Alright." Harkin said as Garrus was crushing him. Shepard put a comforting hand on Garrus's shoulder and coaxed him to stop, there wasn't much Ty could say or do because he had spent the last eight years on a revenge mission and he knew what Garrus was going through and how the want to kill Sidonis was raging in him just like Ty's need to kill everyone involved with his friends and Ka'Reena's death, it was consuming.

Harkin set up a meeting between them and Sidonis and just as Ty thought things were going to go smoothly Garrus pulled his gun on Harkin but Shepard stopped him before he could fire and wound Harkin, "You don't need to shoot him Garrus, he's not worth the bullet." Garrus wrenched his arm free from Shepard then Shepard started to walk away as Garrus head-butted Harkin in the face breaking his face open, Ty smirked and made his way over to Harkin, Ty searched his pockets quickly and found a set of omni-cuffs and said "Looky here Harkin, just like last time." Ty hooked his arms behind his back then began following Shepard and Garrus "I didn't shoot him." Garrus said as they walked.

They got in their cab and were flying to the meeting spot apparently what Ty didn't want to do, stepping between Garrus's sniper and Sidonis's head, was coming true because he was going down with Shepard while Garrus got his shot ready. Ty wasn't very happy with the thought of Garrus's sniper reticule aimed near him only because they were going to between him and revenge, not that Ty thought Garrus would kill either of them but he wouldn't say that it wasn't possible for Garrus to just wound at least Ty and then get Sidonis. Garrus respected Shepard immensely so Ty was pretty sure Garrus wouldn't shoot her but he didn't fancy getting shot in the leg or shot in general by a sniper rifle. "I'd just like to say that I'm not okay with this." Ty said. "What revenge?" Garrus asked. "No, shit you two know that I spent eight years of my life on that. What I meant was stepping in someone's ridicule that almost killed me accidently. If your aiming is even off slightly I'll lose an ear or worse." Ty said. "When did you almost kill him?" Shepard asked as she looked at Garrus. "I didn't almost kill him he just happened to kick the target I was trying to kill out the window as I shot, it wasn't even close." Garrus said. "I heard the damn thing go past me Garrus and to answer your question Shepard it wasn't really that long ago, within the last year in a half I think." Ty said. "Kicked a guy out a window?" Shepard asked with a smirk. "Slaver to be exact and he even managed to save all the hostages, with my squads help." Garrus said with a smirk in his voice. "I had it under control." Ty stated. "Right. Don't worry though Ty, I won't miss." Garrus said.

Orders were orders and he had to follow them whether he liked it or not though Shepard looked even less than pleased than he did though that was for a different reason. Shepard wasn't fond on the idea of Garrus killing Sidonis she had been trying to talk him down the whole entire time which surprised Ty since he thought she was helping Garrus kill Sidonis not help him get all the information then stop him from killing Sidonis at the last minute. Maybe she didn't like the fact she didn't have a choice in Ty killing Scrum and wanted to make up for that, she didn't like Ty doing that in the slightest and it didn't seem her feeling on it changed since then.

They landed and Garrus and Shepard conversed more about not killing Sidonis until Garrus started scouting an area to snipe at, he found a spot and got out of the cab and it took off again flying down to the lower level. As they were landing Shepard turned back to Ty and asked "What do you think of all this Ty? "Honestly without Garrus hearing?" Ty asked. Shepard nodded and he continued "I spent eight years on revenge and all it did was drain the life out of me, I thought by killing them all I would find more closure and I guess in a way I did but not without cost." "What cost?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled and said "Think of everything you saw of me from when we first met to now and try to tell me I wasn't a broken vessel. The only reason I'm even getting close to becoming the person I once was is mostly due to you and what you have done for me since we met. Revenge had little to do with this, yeah I'm fucking happy they are dead but it didn't change a damn thing, my friends are still in unmarked graves and I still wish they were all alive."

Ty shook his head slightly trying to keep his feelings from swarming him only to feel Shepard rest a hand on his knee, "Don't forget the good things that happened and the things you did accomplish or the people you helped." Shepard said. Ty nodded slightly but then continued, "I remember Reena telling me that all the fighting has to end someday and if I spent all my life fighting I'd lose more than I'd ever gain…I guess she was right there." The pair sat in silence for a moment with Shepard keeping her reassuring hand on his knee, "I miss those bastards." Ty muttered under his breath. "Is that what you and Darian had been talking about before we got there?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled slightly and said "Nothing gets by you Shepard, yeah ran into a ghost from my past and he told me about another which got us talking about the good old days…Sorry Shepard I don't mean to be a downer so much, lets go deal with this."

Shepard nodded slightly as the top opened and as they got out she asked "Do you think I should let him kill Sidonis?" Ty chuckled trying to lighten his mood since reminding himself of Ka'Reena hurt, it worked for the most part as he asked "Do you still wish you stopped me?" "…Yea sometimes." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "Personally if I was you I would do what you believe is right Shepard because if you don't your always going to wonder if you could've done it differently and if you still wish you stopped me your always going to wish you stopped him." Shepard nodded silently and they walked towards all the stores, "Alright I have you two in sight…and there's Sidonis, the Turian in the suit wave him over to you." Shepard looked through the crowd and waved over a Turian wearing a blue suit and she started walking towards him so Ty followed in behind her.

They were now standing in a little triangle as Shepard said his name but he immediately freaked out and said "Don't say that name out loud." _Paranoid much, _Ty thought. "I'm here for a friend named Garrus Vakarian." Shepard said. _Ah straight into the meat of things, not a bad plan._ "Garrus? What are you talking about?" Sidonis asked. "I'm a friend of Garrus, he wants to kill you but I don't think it will be necessary." Shepard said. "You're not kidding are you? Listen tell Garrus that I had my own problems." Sidonis said. As he started to walk away Ty looked away expecting his head to turn into mush but instead he heard Shepard's voice "Don't move." Shepard warned. "Get off of me." Sidonis yelled wringing his arm from Shepard. Shepard grabbed his arm again and said "I'm the only thing standing between you and a bullet to your head." "Shepard if he moves I'm taking the shot." Garrus said over the comm.

_Great so now we're literally standing between Garrus and his kill and Shepard's gonna try and convince him otherwise, great plan Shepard let me just put a target right on our backs._ "Fuck." Sidonis said as he dropped his head. Sidonis started spilling all the details, every last bit of information about the whole set up and why he screwed his team over and Garrus was going off on the comm about how Sidonis was spineless and telling Shepard to get out of his shot which she wouldn't oblige too. Though Ty agreed with the no spine comment Ty didn't see the kill there. Sidonis was dead, not on the outside but on the inside it was more then obvious. It was all in the way he talked, how he said food and water tasted and even his posture gave it away. _There isn't a kill here not even I would kill him, he died with all of Garrus's guys…Geez almost like staring into a mirror._ "Just go, tell him to go." Garrus said.

Shepard gave Sidonis a stern talk about how he was given a second chance and not to screw it up then Sidonis told Garrus he'd try his best to make it up to him somehow, as they parted ways from Sidonis Ty looked at Shepard and said "Next time you want to stand between Garrus's sniper rifle and his target do me a favor and warn me so I can be back on the Normandy." "Aw come on you enjoyed it a little." Shepard said with a playful smile. "Not by a long shot, no pun intended." Ty said. They got in the cab and Ty sat in the back again and said "I am surprised he let him go, I guess the line of good and evil blur when we're looking at old friends even when we think the old friend is a foe." "Couldn't have said it better myself." Shepard said as the cab top closed and it lifted off.

They landed on the top floor and Shepard got out meeting Garrus outside the cab, Ty stayed in so they could talk alone about what happened and as they finished Shepard patted his arm and they got back in the cab to fly back to the Zakera Ward where they could get back to the Normandy. As they landed EDI came into their comms and said "According to C-Sec reports Harkin has been taken into custody and is awaiting charges." "That's the least that bastard deserves." Garrus said. "Maybe this time he'll stay behind bars otherwise I'll break his legs to make sure he doesn't go anywhere." Ty said as they got out. "So why were you talking to Miranda back there Ty?" Shepard asked. "I asked Darian to order Serrice Ice Brandy for Chakwas and he also added in other alcohol for the rest of the squad, including Ryncol for Grunt, so they arrived in crates and Miranda was not happy about it. You know she's been kinda bitchy today now that I think of it, ever since I ripped into her which is probably why." Ty said thoughtfully. "That's just Miranda on a bad day." Shepard said with a smirk. Ty raised an eyebrow and asked "You've seen her on a good day? What was it like?" Shepard and Garrus chuckled slightly and Ty continued "Anyway I told her that I'd buy her a vibrator or get her a night with my brother to blow off some steam, needless to say she's probably gonna be in a mood because of me, either that or wanting me to set her up." Ty said as Shepard got a taxi ready to go to the Normandy.

Shepard looked up from the terminal with a grin and then looked back down at the terminal and pressed a few more buttons, "How many crates did you get?" Garrus asked. "Five, will be stocked for a very long time I think." Ty said with a smile. "Damn Chakwas is going to be drunker than me on shore leave." Shepard said as the taxi came down. Ty laughed and said "Now that I'd pay to see." For all of Ty's imagination he couldn't really imagine Shepard drunk on shore leave, not that he thought her a goody two shoes who didn't like to have fun he just couldn't get the image of Shepard drunk to fit in his head.

The top of the cab opened and they all got in and started to fly to the docking bay where the Normandy was docked, they landed and walked into the Normandy's decontaminating chamber and as they waited to be decontaminated Ty looked at Garrus and asked "So Garrus while you guys were hunting Saren did you ever get a shore leave and the show of seeing Shepard drunk on some Batarian ale or some other alcohol?" "Well there was this one time we all got shore leave for a day and Shepard and Kaiden had a drinking contest and they ended up-" "Garrus!" Shepard yelled while smiling. "I was just answering his question and I was getting to the good part." Garrus said with a toothy grin. "Ah come on Shepard I wanna hear what happened." Ty said.

The doors opened to the Normandy and Shepard walked out with Ty and Garrus following behind her, as they got to the hall Joker turned in his seat and said "Hey Ty guess who wants to see you right now." "Is it my long lost Krogan sister twice removed from my mother's side?" Ty joked. "Nope The Illusive Man wants to talk to you." Joker said with a half smile. _What the FUCK did I do now?_

**A/N: Dun dun dun! I will see you next time.**


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Eluding the Illusive Bullet

The silence that filled the cockpit and hall would make silent as the grave sound like an understatement. If Ty's shoes could have screeched to a stop on the floor they would have as he felt his nerves begin to fire. _The Illusive Man wants to talk to me, there is only one reason he would want to talk to me and that won't bode well for any of us,_ Ty thought. Ty looked back at Joker in hope that he was joking as he asked "You fucking with me Joker?" Jokers smile left his face and that gave Ty all the answers he needed, _Fuck me,_ Ty thought. "Sorry Ty I guess I did curse you, Miranda's been trying to keep the conversation from happening but the Illusive Man really wants to talk to you. Wish I could tell you more but Miranda's been cussing up a storm after failing to smooth things out." Joker said. "Ty what is going on?" Shepard asked in a questioning and worried tone. He knew hacking those files would have backlash but he thought he would have had more time or at least the Illusive Man would put two and two together to figure out why he did it. "You guys do what you want I'll go talk to the asshole." Ty said as he started down the hall. "Ty wait up." Shepard called after him.

Ty didn't stop; he couldn't stop not when it was his own doing that caused this and something he wasn't going to tell Shepard if he didn't have to. The Illusive man wanted to talk he'd talk but he was going to make sure the Illusive man knew that he was here to stay and how much of a ignorant asshole he was, the sound of Garrus and Shepard's feet trailing behind him got Ty's attention before he felt his arm get grabbed stopping him fully. Ty looked back to see Shepard looking at him searching his eyes for what was going on, "Ty talk to me, why does he want to talk to you specifically?" Shepard asked. "I made a choice Shepard that I knew would have backlash but I didn't anticipate it to happen so soon and I hoped he'd be smart enough not to question me." Ty answered.

Shepard frowned in response, that was anything but the straight answer she was looking for. "Let me talk to him." Shepard said. Ty shook his head as he got his arm loose, "No Shepard, I'm not afraid of him or Cerberus." "Ty just tell her." Garrus said. Ty brought his gaze to Garrus as he said "Not unless I have to." Ty turned around and continued his walk to the comm room, he made it to the Tech lab doors and opened them and continued his stride as he passed Mordin and into the hallway going into CIC to be met by Miranda who was pacing back and forth and looked considerably pissed off and worried. Miranda saw him walk through the doors and she started talking "Ty we got a problem." Miranda said. _That's putting it lightly,_ "Illusive man wants to talk I know." Ty said. Ty tried to push past Miranda but she put her hands on his shoulders and asked "Did you hack into Cerberus files?"

Maybe he should have told her, he doubted even if she said it was a bad idea that he would have listened but he didn't have time to go around asking for permission, Shepard's life had been at stake and he did what was right. "He always make a fuss about stupid shit?" Ty asked rhetorically. "Ty this is serious you can't just blow this off like it doesn't matter." Miranda said. She had a look in her eyes, a conflicted look that Ty read instantly and made him regret ever beginning to befriend her. She was ordered to kill him if Illusive Man decided that he was expendable. Ty grabbed her hands and took them off his shoulders and said "I know what's at stake. If the Illusive man wants you to kill me by the end of this then, well I guess I'll just have to disarm you and bail off the ship." Miranda looked down and Ty knew why, she probably hadn't ever felt much guilt about her contracts before but this was different it seemed. Ty had royally screwed up by becoming close to the Cerberus squad and voicing his dislike for the group, now she was conflicted on an order that she would have felt no remorse about when they first met. Ty didn't regret that he had spoke the truth about Cerberus and tried showing her the error of being with them, he regretted putting her in this position, duty or a comrade? With a shake of his head Ty moved her to the side and said "Leave it to the one guy who hates and is hated by Cerberus to befriend their top agent then get a kill order on themselves by that agent, huh I think I've done it all now."

Ty walked through the doors but the table was already down so he just walked right on top of it and let the orange hologram surround him, as it did the Illusive Man came into his eye sight in a holographic manor. He had piercing blue eyes and was in an expensive suit sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette, "You know I expected the guy that set up my grandfather to look more…threatening." Ty said with a smirk. The Illusive Man dipped some of the ashes of his cigarette into the tray he had, Ty always figured he'd never meet anyone with weirder looking eyes then his or his brother but the Illusive Man brought the weird eye scale to a whole new level, "Ah Ty we finally meet, your grandfather was nothing personal he just got in our way and we had to put him in his place." The Illusive man said. Ty rolled his eyes and said "Whatever, call it what you want but killing my family is personal no matter how you want to sugar coat it."

The Illusive man took a drag of his cigarette and blew out the smoke which Ty figured was his way of blowing smoke in his face, he didn't like the look of the Illusive Man, he looked like a snake slithering about waiting for the opportunity to strike while his prey didn't know he was there. "You know if it weren't for the fact that Miranda had spent however long having to talk to you about me I would've just said "well he can go fuck himself I don't wanna talk to him" but I figure that since Miranda had been stuck talking to you I should at least make an appearance since it was obviously something important that Miranda had been trying to do. So do me a favor and save me the fucking theatrics and petty bullshit talk and ask your damn questions so I can get back to preparing for this mission."

The Illusive man put his cigarette out and stood up and said "Okay I have reason to believe that you not only hacked into Cerberus files but you also took a piece of EDIs memory core and unshackled that part of her onto your omni-tool and space bike is it true."_ Oh he figured that out, hmm guess that isn't much of a surprise but not like I set her loose on the crew or something,_ Ty thought. "Yes and yes, you gotta a problem with that?" Ty asked. "Yes I do so answer me one question, why shouldn't I have Miranda kill you right now." The Illusive man said.

Oh this was going to be good, the Illusive Man just opened the pathway to the ass ripping fiesta that Ty had always wished he would be able to give the man before killing him, killing him would still have to wait but at least he would get to give him a piece of his mind. Ty stifled his chuckle not wanting to cause the Illusive man to disconnect before he had the chance to speak, "Here's a few reasons, Shepard needing me as an expert on the mission, the squad morale being completely diminished by having someone kill a fellow squad member since I'm friends with almost everyone including Miranda, the fact that if you kill me my family will bring the fight so hard and fast to your front door step that you wont be able to even say "Cerberus is humanity and humans are the superior race" and then there's the fact not only will my family hunt you down but all my friends who I've made over the years that hate Cerberus will help. Aside from all of those reasons my last one and most important is my charming demeanor." Ty said with a sarcastic tone and smirk.

The Illusive man walked a little bit towards Ty's hologram and said "Maybe you're right but why would you hack into Cerberus files? Despite the grievances between you and Cerberus I know you are not a fool, you knew this would come back to you." Ty shrugged and said "I had good reason to." "Would you care to share or should I just have you killed?" The Illusive man asked.

There was the moment Ty had been waiting for, he knew that he was going to have to spill the beans on helping Shepard but at least he would be able to deflect the whole EDI thing, Ty put his finger to his chin acting as if he was thinking hard as he said "Hmm let me think you see there was this problem that was happening, oh right SHEPARD WAS DIEING!" Ty's sudden raised voice made the Illusive Man recoil a little, Ty continued with a slightly raised voice "And since I figured that your traitor Wilson would do more then just try and kill her without planting a back up plan I decided to hack into your files since you blocked Miranda out claiming that there wasn't anything useful in there you lying piece of shit. So I did a little snooping on him found out that he was not only trained in memory rebuilding but in memory wiping as well. Oh what a great guy to hire onto your team when he was a greedy fucker, I mean did you intentionally not throw enough credits his direction to get Shepard killed or did you assume that while you were on your high and mighty chair that he would never betray you."

The Illusive Man looked ready to spill out an excuse but Ty cut him off, he wasn't done yet, "Training in memory wiping should have given you the biggest reason not to put him in charge but no you still did and when Miranda asked for your help on trying to figure out what he could've done what did you do? You blocked her and told her that there was nothing important in his file. Tell me did you just see memory building and then stopped reading or was it your back up plan if Shepard wouldn't cooperate?" Before the Illusive Man answered Ty waved him off and continued "Anyway though moving away from your blatant ignorance at leading an organization and risking Shepard's life by locking away your secrets from Miranda because you are afraid of what she might say about some of your other projects, so I had EDI start researching everything on how to stop memory wiping and by the time I found out more data on him it started happening so I got EDI to get Chakwas and Miranda's asses up there so the only fucking woman who can save this galaxy would be, you know, saved."

Ty started pacing, it always happened when he started getting on a roll of ripping someone a new ass "Now if it weren't for the fact that me and EDI are friends and work great together and the fact that I hacked your shitty ass files on this Wilson asshole, and so you know the files could've been hacked by someone with minimal expertise. I mean seriously your passwords were all human dominance related or based on Greek or Roman mythology. Anyway as I was saying so if it weren't for the fact I hacked your shitty ass files Shepard, the only person that can lead a group of miscreants like us to defeat the Collectors and Reapers, would be fucking dead and the galaxy with it." The Illusive man lit another cigarette and took a drag of his and said "Oka-" Ty interrupted him and said "Shut it I'm not finished, before you start chastising me on how I go about my business on helping the crew members, no no no better yet, helping my friends think about this Einstein if it weren't for me and EDI, who almost everyone look at sideways with distrust, this "suicide mission" would've been a failure because of your stupid fucking protocols."

Ty stopped his pacing for a second and looked at the Illusive man with an uncaring smile and continued "Now go ahead tell Miranda to kill me and see what the fuck happens, you want this mission to get fucked sideways because of the friends I made on this mission who will either quit or be pissed off enough to start killing everyone Cerberus on the ship and then have my friends and family come hunt you down go right fucking ahead I got a clear conscious now I got my vengeance, I avenged my friends, I had one last good laugh with my living friends and family, got to head-but with a Krogan again, saved my friend, started taking the ice off of the so called ice queen, hell I got to meet Commander Shepard and fight along side her and all these great guys and girls on this ship. "

The Illusive man looked pissed but Ty continued his pacing and his rant as he drew a circle in the air "My life if you ask me has come full circle from being shitty for years to being a great time and I got to meet the man who ordered the hit on my grandfather and tell him to fuck himself. My conscious is so clear right now, so take that cigarette and shove it up your ass while its lit if you want me dead and if you don't want me dead go fuck yourself anyway because unlike most of the galaxy." Ty stared a hole through the Illusive Mans head as he continued, "I don't fear you. Got that all, you ready to make your decision so I can either get on with my life or meet my friends in the next world 'cause honestly I'm done wasting my breath on you."

Ty stopped pacing and crossed his arms and let the Illusive man sit down in his chair, "You got a lot of guts kid I'll give you that even after I saved your life yo-" _Wait a fucking minute, _Ty thought as he put his hand ups and said "Whoa whoa whoa "after you saved my life" Miranda, Chakwas, Mordin, and Shepard saved my life asshole all you did was nod your head and smoke that shit cigarette." "Call it what you want but it was my call to bring you back." The Illusive man stated. "Maybe but people who hand out orders aren't the ones saving lives, the ones down in the shit up to their necks are the ones doing it." Ty said. "That may be but it doesn't matter now, you can stay on the mission but know this, after its over you are an enemy of Cerberus and you better warn your friends and family too because they'll be targets as well after this is over."

Normally Ty would have gotten pissed and had a list of threats ranging from cutting his head off to torturing him for even speaking it but Ty found himself chuckling ever so slightly, he didn't feel threatened by him in the slightest, "Please your threats aren't even real except against me because my friends and family are so well hidden that not even your connections can find them, I know that for a fact because not even the Shadow Broker knows where we are and he has better connections then you." Ty said. "Don't underestimate Cerberus." The Illusive man said.

Ty couldn't help but laugh again as he said "Don't underestimate me and the rest of RBZ, you may have killed my grandfather but that was before we knew who you were but now, now you can't possibly imagine how hard of a fight that we can bring." "We'll continue this fight after this mission is over and then you will learn the power of Cerberus." The Illusive man said. Ty flipped him off and said "Yeah go fuck yourself to you too, see ya around but next time it'll be in person, Joker close this channel." Ty kept giving the Illusive man the bird and blew him a kiss as the hologram closed around him, "Ah he's gotta be throwing a tantrum now." Joker said over the intercom.

Ty felt good about what he had just done and his spirits felt high even if the Illusive Man attempted to threaten him and his family but he couldn't find them and Darian was more resourceful then the Illusive Man knew. The bar was an armory behind the counter and only Darian knew about it not to mention he was a powerful biotic, Ty found himself laughing ever so slightly to himself as he looked up at the intercom and said, "No shit right, so on a scale from one to ten how well was that ass ripping one being the worst and ten being badass." "Ten just because it was the Illusive Man and it was funnier than hell the way you shut him up." Joker said. "Thanks for the support Joker." Ty said. "You got it." Joker said as he shut off the intercom.

Ty turned around while smiling to himself and saw Miranda, Shepard and Garrus standing there waiting for him, "I give you an eight in a half." Garrus said with a toothy grin. Ty gave him the bird with a smile and said "Bitter." Ty saw Miranda looking at the ground and Shepard shaking her head with a smile so he said "Hey princess cheer up we get to still work together until this is over, how about we go down to the cargo hold grab a Serrice Ice Brandy go back to the crew quarters and we all sit down with Chakwas and have a drink, me and Garrus excluded of course." "What no dextro drinks?" Garrus asked. "No there are but I wasn't sure if you wanted any." Ty responded. "You…I can't…unbelievable." Miranda said as she stormed out. "So it was you?" Shepard asked.

He didn't want any recognition for the whole thing that happen but now she knew, her stare was one of thankfulness and something Ty wasn't sure of but it looked like a new found fondness for him. He began to rub the back of his neck as a slight uncomfortable feeling swarmed him, "Yea." Ty said. Shepard seemed to notice his uncomfortableness since she only responded with a nod before she said "I'll go calm her down you go get the bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy and tell Chakwas about the crates, Garrus you going to go back down to the battery?" "I need to do more calibrations on the Thanix cannons I installed so I can get them at full potential." Garrus said. "Alright you two go get that stuff done I'll go find Miranda." Shepard said as she walked out. "Thanix cannons?" Ty asked. "A lot goes on outside of your room you know." Garrus joked.

That got a chuckle out of Ty as they walked out and to the elevator which was still on their level so Ty figured that neither Shepard nor Miranda went down since the elevator was not that fast, they stepped in and hit the crew quarters button for Garrus and the cargo hold for Ty. The doors closed and the descent started, the elevator came to a slow halt and the doors opened letting Garrus step out but before the doors closed Garrus looked back at Ty and said "Thank you for your help Ty." Ty nodded and said "No problem it's what I do."

Garrus nodded and left so Ty let the doors close and let the elevator descend to the cargo hold, the doors opened and Ty walked out towards the newest looking five crates labeled with the Darian special. The crates were all marked with a tomahawk and sniper crossing over each other exactly how their crew symbol had been. Though Ty had just got it tattooed himself Darian had been using the symbol for marking crates and other things for Ty when he came to the Citadel, Ty smirked as he walked up to one of the crates and cracked it open. Cold air came flying out of the crate like a dust cloud just less dirty and colder revealing that it was stacked from the bottom to the top with seventy bottles just in the one crate so Ty looked at all the labels until he found Serrice Ice Brandy and grabbed one then closed the crate. He walked over to the Avenger he still had to finish and found three data pads sitting next to it, he wasn't sure if getting the stories was a good idea due to not wanting to evoke any type of feelings from Shepard but it seemed she had them regardless of what he did so he shrugged off the thought as he approached the table.

Ty set the bottle down on the table next to the data pads and put the safety on the Avenger then folded it up so when he came down next he could get straight to work on it when he heard his favorite bald tattooed biotic behind him, "Figured I'd find you down here." Ty smirked to himself and said "Well it has become like my work area, what you doin' down here Jack? Thought you'd be reading those data pads still." "I know where to go just waiting for Shepard to plot a course there, nice going with telling the Illusive Man to go fuck himself." Jack said. Ty turned around, he was unsure how she would know already, either gossip traveled fast or Joker made it possible to let the whole crew hear the conversation, "Someone tell you or did Joker play both sides of the conversation for everyone?" Ty asked. "Joker." Jack said with a smirk.

Jack walked over to the table and looked down at the gun, "Damn you do that?" Jack asked. Ty nodded and said "Yea took some time but I was able to do it, you like it?" "Hell yeah who'd you make this for?" Jack asked. "Grunt, I haven't finished it yet I still have to install inferno rounds but after I do that then I get to work on some of the other guns for the rest of the crew." Ty said. Jack looked over at him and asked "You making them for everyone?" "Not going to have the same designs or paint but yeah each will have their own type of special rounds too, I'll probably give you warp ammo to match your biotics." Ty said.

Jack nodded absently and stayed quiet which made Ty feel a little awkward since it wasn't like her at all to stare absently like she was thinking really hard on what she was about to say, "You okay Jack?" Ty asked breaking up the awkward silence. "Forget it." Jack said as she stopped leaning against the table. Ty nodded and Jack looked at the Brandy and asked "You gonna hog that to yourself?" Ty shook his head and said "No it's for Chakwas plus I don't drink alcohol I don't like not being able to control myself." "You'd probably be an angry drunk." Jack said with a smirk. Ty laughed and said "Probably true either that or really emotionally whacked, I'd be happy one second then pissed off the next, you want a bottle we got five crates full but be careful there is some dextro alcohol and Ryncol in there."

Before Jack could answer Shepard's voice came over the intercom, "Ty you down there?" "Yeah what's up?" Ty asked. "I'm taking Miranda and Mordin out to recruit a thief named Kasumi Goto to get Miranda out of her mood, have you given Chakwas her Brandy yet?" Shepard asked. "Nope about to head back up to do that now, do you need me to talk to the princess?" Ty asked. "I don't think she wants you to tell her to blow off some steam with your brother or by herself again, she'll be fine, still pissed at you but fine otherwise. After I'm done recruiting this thief we're headed for Pragia to help Jack blow up the place. You wanna tag along with us on that?" Shepard asked. "I'll ask Jack if she wants me around for it if she doesn't then you'll have to take someone else." Ty said.

Shepard's voice became distant because she was talking to Joker then she came back into the intercom, "Find out before you go to Chakwas and when you do get to Chakwas stay with her as she drinks Brandy, it goes straight to her head and she'll want to talk to you or someone before she passes out. I gotta go so I'll talk to you when I get back." "I'll probably still be with Chakwas then unless she doesn't drink it." Ty said. "Chakwas enjoys Brandy no matter what time of the day it is, see you later Ty." Shepard said then shut off the intercom.

Ty looked over to Jack and asked "So can I tag along with you to Pragia?" "I was hoping you'd ask that way you can help me turn that into a fucking crater." Jack said. Ty nodded and said "Sounds like fun, I gotta give Chakwas the Brandy you going up?" "Yeah let's go dick." Jack said. Ty felt the smirk tug at his face as Jack turned around to go to the elevator, she really liked those nicknames. Ty grabbed the bottle in one hand and the three data pads in his other and followed behind Jack into the elevator. The elevator stopped at Engineering and the doors opened letting Jack get off as she walked away Ty said "Whenever you're ready to ask your question I'll be waiting to hear it and answer the best I can."

Jack stayed quiet and walked out of sight as the doors closed behind her, Ty hit Shepard's quarters first so he could drop the data pads off while she was gone so she'd just find them in there. The elevator went up and the doors opened to Shepard's cabin, Ty walked out and to the doors that opened to her cabin but they didn't open and EDIs voice came over the intercom, "Ty you are not allowed into her cabin without permission." Ty sighed and said "EDI I'm just dropping off these stories Chakwas had me get for Shepard I'll be in and out." The doors opened and Ty walked in but stopped as he saw the room "Holy shit." Ty said. The room had a huge fish tank full of fish, a display case filled with model ships but not full, a big bed, a lounge area, a hamster, a bathroom, and a desk with a lot of stuff on it. Ty walked over to the desk and put the data pads on the edge of the table where it was noticeable and as he was about to walk out he noticed a picture frame on the desk, he walked over to it and a picture of Kaiden's face popped up. He wasn't sure what he was expecting it to be of and he wasn't sure why he felt slightly deflated but he let it go as he turned around to leave, _should have figured_, Ty thought.

**A/N: Well I think it will be hard for the Illusive Man to sit down for a little while now. Any questions or comments don't be afraid to ask or say. Thank you to readers new and old for the two thousand views in one month two months in a row now and thank you for the five thousand five hundred something views in all. Anywho I will see you all next time.**


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Brandy Thieves

"Ty watch out!" Whitney yelled from behind him. _A trap, it had to be a trap didn't it._ The Eclipse were just waiting for them to get there and now they were trapped like a Varren in a cage, at the sound of Whitney's voice Ty spun around and saw an Asari with a three foot blade about to stab him. Ty didn't have enough time to grab his tomahawk and hit it away but as he began to attempt blocking it away a flash of movement made his heart stop momentarily. A wordless yell echoed across the room as Ty saw the end of the blade out the back of Whitney who was standing in front of him, everything seemed to become silent as Ty witnessed Whitney drop her gun in shock as she stared down at the blade.

The voices of Grissom, Carson, and Gallick became muffled as Ty felt needles begin to prick at his skin and anger rise in his being, Ty felt an amassed energy explode inside his body as the needles turned to knives and pierced his body, as he began to get ready to shoot the Asari Whitney brought her gaze up at the Asari and with her gaze she brought a strong straight right that knocked her back a few steps making her release the sword but leaving it stuck inside of Whitney. Ty moved around Whitney and fired off his pistol rapidly taking down the Asari's shields and landing a shot at her shoulder but she quickly threw herself out the window and back down to her comrades. Anger spurred Ty to chase her but he heard a staggered breath from behind him, "Get…back here…I'm not through yet." Whitney mumbled as she attempted to brace herself on a wall. Whitney grabbed the hilt of the blade and pulled it out of her gut with a wordless cry before she collapsed down onto her chest on the ground with a pool of blood beginning to form.

Anger had filled Ty's being but now worry for a person he considered to be like his sister began to take hold, he had to act and not get lost in the shock. If he got lost in the shock he would lose Whitney and that was not going to happen. They were stuck on the second floor of an apartment on Illium on a mission that was supposed to be an assassination mission that quickly escalated into a get your ass shot off in a trap mission. Tarak was going to have a lot to explain to them for not letting them know that these Eclipse bastards were just waiting for them. Ty turned away from Whitney and began issuing his orders, "Carson get Valera on the comm and get the shuttle here right now! Gallick take cover at the wall and don't let any of those fuckers through, Carson get his back after you're done! Grissom I need you here right now!" Ty ordered.

The squad began to move as Ty turned back to Whitney and knelt down next to her and turned her over, they had to stop the bleeding and get her to the Med-bay, the mission had already gone past FUBAR now it was about getting his friends out safely and if Tarak didn't like it he could kill that bitch Enyala himself. Ty felt his anger rise substantially just thinking the bitch's name; she was not going to cost him his friend. Grissom came sliding down next to Ty on his knees with his Omni-tool already at the ready, Ty looked at his Drell friend as he asked in a commanding but calm tone, "Grissom you're my chief medical officer what the fuck do we need to do?" "Do you have any medi-gel left? I ran out after patching up Gallick." Grissom stated calmly.

Ty checked all his pockets for any remaining tubes of Medi-gel finding nothing but his leg to pat against, "Fuck, no I'm out. Carson took that hit and I used most on him and then used the rest on my graze wounds." Ty said. "Carson! Do you have any Medi-gel left?" Grissom called out. "No I'm out! Valera said ETA is five minutes!" Carson yelled clearly stressed out beyond normal Turian standards. "I'm out too! Die you Eclipse bastards!" Gallick low Batarian voice yelled as a roar from his M-76 Revenant echoed around the room.

Grissom began unclasping Whitney's armor chest plate without any other words spared but Whitney began to gasp in pain making Ty have to hold her down, "Hold on Whitney we're going to fix you up." Ty reassured. "I'm sorry Ty ahhh!" Whitney gasped in pain as Grissom got the chest plate off leaving her only in her loose T-shirt and her greaves. Ty went to look at the wound but only saw the huge amount of blood that now covered the whole bottom half of the white shirt, "Don't apologize for saving me from getting stabbed, just stay with us okay?" Ty said as he looked back to Grissom. Grissom was analyzing that much Ty could tell but he didn't know how they were going to heal the wound since none of them had Medi-gel, "If Valera gets here in five minutes I think I'll kiss her!" Gallick yelled. "Not before me you won't!" Carson yelled back as Ty noticed the distinct sound of his Phaeston going off.

After a few more painful seconds of waiting Grissom looked back up at Ty with his decision now ready to be heard, "We must cauterize the wound or she will bleed out before she makes it to the Med-bay for proper treatment, I will need your blade." Grissom stated. Without second thought Ty grabbed his tomahawk off his back and handed it to him, this was going to be a very old school way of healing but they were out of options. "I will need to heat the blade up and you will have to hold her down, it will be very painful." Grissom said. "I can…I can take it." Whitney mumbled. "Carson!" Ty yelled. Carson looked over at Ty grabbed Whitney's sniper off the ground, "How's your aim with a sniper?" Ty asked. "Not that great but I'll give it a shot." Carson answered. Ty slid the sniper across the ground all the way to him and turned back to Grissom, "Tell me when you are ready." Ty said.

Grissom activated his Omni-tool and used one of his tech upgrades to begin heating up the blade which only took a few seconds, "Now you're just stealing my kills Carson!" Gallick yelled. "Is now really the time?" Carson yelled back. Grissom deactivated his Omni-tool and Ty saw that his blade was now red hot, "I am ready." Grissom said as he moved Whitney's shirt up so he could see the wound better. Ty put his hands on Whitney's shoulders and said "Whitney this is going to hurt but we have to do it." Whitney nodded and said "I know…just do it." Ty looked back to Grissom and said "On three." Grissom nodded though he read Ty's intention, "One." Ty announced. Whitney took a deep breath, "Two." Ty said.

On two Grissom pressed the blade down on Whitney and an earth shattering yell filled the room, Whitney was a strong woman and it took a lot of Ty's strength to hold her in place as pain etched across her features and she thrashed about while she screamed. Her eyes were completely open and tears were beginning to form in her eyes as Grissom took the blade away, "Carson where's Valera?" Ty asked over the screams and cries of pain from Whitney. "Another minute!" Carson yelled back. "We must do the other side." Grissom stated. "I know." Ty responded. Ty turned Whitney onto her side much to her discontent, "What happened to three?" Whitney asked in a pained tone. Ty looked up at Grissom and said "Three." Ty had a good grip on her as Grissom put the heated blade to her skin again and the cries of agony filled the room again along with profanities thrown at Ty, Grissom took the blade away and said "That will keep her alive momentarily but if we do not get her real medical aid the wounds will open again and she will likely bleed out unless her blood is able to replenish itself."

Ty put his tomahawk back in its holder hoping that it wouldn't burn him, Grissom looked up suddenly and Ty's hearing suddenly caught what he was looking at, "Shuttles here! Ty you and Grissom first!" Carson yelled. Ty picked up Whitney in his arms and with Grissom at his side they ran over to the shuttle, "Guys shuttle is beginning to take fire, if one of these Eclipse shits has a missile launcher I'm going to be pissed so get your asses moving." Valera said over the group comm. "Eclipse are almost getting through, Carson lets go!" Gallick yelled as Ty heard their footsteps begin to run towards them. Grissom was the first in the shuttle and grabbed Whitney from Ty so he could make sure the rest of the squad made it in, Ty turned and pulled out his pistols as he made his way back to Gallick and Carson who were running and shooting behind them as they ran, Ty aimed around them and began firing at the few Eclipse soldiers on their tails piercing through their shields and killing them. "I'm not carrying your asses like I did Whitney!" Ty yelled at them in a joking manor.

Carson ran past Ty first give him a good punch in the shoulder as he did before jumping into the shuttle, Gallick was next smacking Ty in the back of the head as he ran past and jumped into the shuttle. Ty hopped in himself and the doors closed behind him, "Gun it Valera." Ty ordered. "Aye aye, everybody hold on this is going to be fun." Valera announced from the cockpit. "Oh Spirits this is going to be terrible." Carson said. The shuttle lurched forward making everyone shift slightly, "Spirits did you take the inertial dampeners off too?" Carson nearly yelled. "Of course, that's what makes it fun." Valera said from the cockpit. Ty motioned Carson with his head to the cockpit and said "Go have fun Carson and make sure we get there in one piece and as quick as possible." "I heard that Ty." Valera said.

Carson moved quickly to the cockpit before Valera pulled another stunt that would cause them to shift, as Ty was about to sit down next to Whitney the shuttle jolted upwards making him nearly fall on his ass only barely managing to save himself by catching himself on a wall. "Ty we got bogeys on our six, you and someone else need to get in the turrets and take them out." Valera stated. "Grissom you watch over her, Gallick lets go show these fuckers our new guns. And put those inertial dampeners on if your going to pull crazy shit like that, we got a wounded back here." Ty said. "I've been waiting to use these." Gallick said as he stood up. Ty went to the back left wall and Gallick went to the right, they sat down in the seats that were facing towards the back but before they hit the buttons to activate the guns Ty said "Put your comm on permanent on so we don't have to yell back and forth at each other. And try to hit some of them I don't want to have all the fun." Gallick's four eyes showed excitement as he barked out a laugh, "Ha! Try to keep up Ty."

The pair hit the buttons in front of them and the sounds of their guns on the outside activating became apparent as their seats and their walls moved further out as the guns control screens became live and their view screen in front of them showed them the view of the shuttles that were chasing them. The had two guns they installed on top of the shuttle that were similar to the gun on top of a Mako just without the cannon, "Spool those guns up boys, I don't know about you but I don't want to be on the news for a shuttle crash. I don't think I could ever live that down." Valera said. "As you wish my mono-gender pilot." Ty responded. "If they aren't female I don't have four fucking eyes." Gallick said with a chuckle. "Ha ha." Valera faked a laugh.

There were four shuttles on their tail as Ty began lining up his first target, Ty began spooling up the gun and Gallick's soon followed, "May the best human win." Ty said. His gun roared to life and the bullets began punching through the shuttle until it veered downwards with a fire beginning to start, another shuttle went down from Gallick's fire as Ty lined up the next shuttle and opened fire once again. The shuttle got taken down but suddenly their own shuttle lurched downwards and with the inertial dampeners still off Ty and Gallick ended up smacking their heads on the wall in front of them, the shuttle began to ascend again making them push back into their seats, "Bogey gunship! Ty, Gallick focus on him!" Valera yelled. "Turn those damn inertial dampeners back on Valera!" "Ow! God damn it woman turn those dampeners back on!" Ty and Gallick yelled simultaneously. "Stop bitching and start shooting." Valera said.

Ty saw the gunship pop up in the display and aimed his gun at it but before he was able to fire the shuttle alarm started going off, "He has a lock, hold on!" Valera yelled. "Valera wait don't do tha-" Carson was interrupted by the shuttle ascending and beginning to do a loop, "Hold on everybody!" Valera yelled. "Spirits Valera the shuttle isn't tested for this and the inertial dampeners are still off!" Carson yelled. Ty pushed himself as far into his seat as he tried to line up the shot on the gunship as it began flying under them, Ty's gun roared to life as he lit up the gunships cockpit. The shuttle thrusters sounded like they were working into over time as it came around from the loop that Valera just put the shuttle into, "Carson get ready to hit that button." Valera said with struggle in her voice. "This isn't meant to be flown like this." Carson responded back with equal the struggle in his voice. "I've done it before, just trust me." Valera barked back. "Uh I think I'm going to be sick." Gallick moaned. "Grissom you alright?" Ty asked as he tried to keep himself from leaving his seat. "I strapped myself and Whitney in, I'm entertained actually." Grissom said.

The shuttle came out of the loop and Ty heard Valera yell something to Carson as Ty got his controls ready again, "Guys are going to be in front of the main gun, Ty I need you up here for that." Valera said. "On it." Ty said as he hit the button to disengage the gun. Ty got out of his seat and did his best to get up to the cockpit without stumbling passing Grissom and an unconscious Whitney, Ty reached the cockpit and hopped into the middle seat between his two pilots and pulled the main gun up, "Darian we're almost there, get Brad to get the Med-bay ready and then I need you and Tara to get The Setting Suns drive core fired up." Valera said. "On it Val." Darian's voice came over the comm. "Never do that again with the dampeners off or me inside this damn thing." Ty said. Valera looked at him with a smile and said "Oh come on Ty you liked it." "I'll admit I'd enjoy it a lot more without having Whitney wounded and the Eclipse on our asses." Ty said.

The main gun of their shuttle was another mini-gun but this one also had two cannons like the Mako's on both sides of the shuttle, Ty brought up the guns controls as he heard Gallick unleash a flurry of shots at a target that was behind them. Ty began aiming on his first target waiting for the target to lock while the shuttle was trying a poor attempt to evade his targeting reticule, his reticule gave him the target locked message and he fired both cannons taking out the thrusters on the back end and making it plummet from the sky, "That's one down, two to go." Valera said. Ty began locking the next target and fired again when it locked taking out the back end once again and making it plummet from the sky, "I hope no innocents are getting hurt." Carson said solemnly. "If they are it's because of the Eclipse not us." Valera said. "Maybe, hold on let me get us closer to this last target." Carson said as his hands dashed across his board. The shuttle began to speed forward making Ty reset his targeting, "We are getting close to The Setting Sun, take that bastard out Gallick." Valera ordered. "Ah come on I was just starting to have fun with him." Gallick said. "Now Gallick." Valera said. "Fine." Gallick said.

Ty locked his target and fired again taking out the thrusters again and making the Eclipse plummet from the sky and the roar of the mini-gun told Ty that Gallick was finishing his target off as well, "Get us in the shuttle bay safely and get the elevator down there, wait for us all to get on but after that I want you two at the helm as quick as possible and get us the hell off this planet." Ty ordered. "Aye aye." Valera said. "Aye aye Captain." Carson said. Ty chuckled slightly as he began to get up and said "Stop calling me Captain Carson just call me Ty." "I'll see to making the change when I'm not being shot at or having to fly the ship." Carson responded.

As Ty entered the back of the shuttle he saw Gallick making his way back to the normal seats after shutting down the gun, "Good shooting there Gallick." Ty congratulated. Gallick waved him off and said "Don't start with that crap again; I enjoy good fights I don't do it for pats on the back." "Just saying, alright when we get on board I'll take Whitney but I want you to grab the boys and go to the guns, if the Eclipse follow us attempt to disable them without crashing them into the planets surface and causing huge civilian casualties." Ty said to Gallick. "I'll make sure the boys shoot straight." Gallick said with a nod of his head. "Good, Grissom you and I are going to the Med-bay." Ty said.

Grissom nodded quietly, Ty activated his comm that would project his voice on the ship, "Darian when we get there your in charge until I'm sure Whitney is fine, Tara do what you do best and if you can leave the engines head up to the Med-bay, an extra set of hands is never bad." Ty said. "On it." "Will do Ty." Darian and Tara responded. The shuttle didn't take much longer to reach The Setting Sun and as soon as it landed in the docking bay Ty unstrapped the unconscious form of Whitney and got her in his arms as his friends began carrying out their orders, Ty and Grissom were the last ones to disembark and they got to the elevator shortly after that with all six of them getting in the elevator, _come on Whitney hold on,_ Ty thought.

* * *

The elevator slowing to a stop brought Ty from his mind and out of the old memory, he felt himself smiling as the doors opened letting him leave and head to the Med-bay to get to Doctor Chakwas. What a crew he had and what a day that had been, it had been before the Thresher Maw fight but boy did it stick out in his list of bad days mixed with a fun memory of the crew. Whitney had been injured and if it wasn't for Grissom and his quick work in the apartment she would have likely died before even getting halfway to the ship, after reaching t he Med-bay the two were able to get her more stabilized and Tara joined them soon after to lend a hand while they got off the planet without anymore chase from the Eclipse, much to the disappointment of Kar and Brad who missed out on the fight completely.

They never got Enyala but Ty had no desire to go back after the ambush and had told Tarak to "Shove the mission up your ass" for not letting them know that the Eclipse were waiting for someone like them. Ty shook the memory off and made his way into the Med-bay where Chakwas was sitting typing away on her terminal, "Doc I got something for you." Ty said. Chakwas turned around and her eyes lit up as she saw the Serrice Ice Brandy in his hand that he was displaying for her, "Is that Serrice Ice Brandy?" Chakwas asked as she stood up. "Want me to open it up and pour you a drink so you can find out?" Ty asked with a smirk. "No I trust you, so care to share a few drinks with me?" Chakwas asked. Ty shook his head in response, "I don't drink alcohol doc but if you want to drink and talk to me I'll stay around for you, if you ever need another bottle there's about five crates full down in the cargo hold, just watch out not all are Serrice and some are Dextro or Ryncol." Ty said as he pulled out a chair. "You didn't have to get that much Ty." Chakwas said.

Ty shrugged a little and Chakwas grabbed a glass for herself and started pouring herself a drink, "That had to cost you a fortune Ty Serrice Ice Brandy is not a cheap drink." Chakwas scolded. Ty smiled at the motherly tone she had as he said "It didn't cost me anything doc don't worry about it, Darian set me up with it and I already paid him for it. You don't need to fret about it." Chakwas nodded for a moment but then stopped as she asked, "Did you get Shepard any books?" Though he wasn't sure if it was a good idea still Ty nodded and said "Yeah they're in her room already." "Are you going to tell her it was you that got them?" Chakwas asked then drank out of her glass. "Maybe, I might let you take the credit for it or play dumb." Ty said.

Chakwas poured herself another and shook her head with a hearty laugh; Ty wasn't sure what was so funny since he was being serious about playing dumb. That was an easy thing to do and he made it really believable when he wanted, he wasn't sure if that meant he was good at acting or it was natural, he hoped for the first one. "What?" Ty asked. Chakwas gave him another shake of her head as she said "You." That got a laugh out of Ty, that was something that he had heard many times and he had a feeling it would never stop. "You have no idea how much I've heard that." Ty said with a smile. Chakwas got a bit of her motherly scolding look on as she said "Why not just be honest with her and tell her you got them for her she'd really appreciate it." He had a very good reason now despite knowing that she had some sort of feelings towards him, the picture of Kaiden still being in her room was reason enough to not even think about taking credit for it. Chakwas drank another shot glass full of Brandy and as she finished he said "Doc I could be stepping into enemy territory doing something like that." "What do you mean enemy territory?" Chakwas asked.

Ty took his hoodie off tired of wearing it at the moment and so he could take the crown of his hair out of the ponytail it was in, as his hair fell he rubbed the back of his head and said "You were on her original squad Chakwas, you know she was involved with that Kaiden guy and they were very close." Ty remembered how Garrus had told him about how the two got close after Virmire, he wasn't surprised in the slightest by it and it made sense for her to do that. After a tragedy you need someone to be close to, someone who will be there with you through it all no matter what and Kaiden had been that guy, what changed Ty wasn't sure but he continued nonetheless, "I mean how could they not be after Shepard had to choose between him and Ashley Williams, they could only grow closer after something like that. After the Normandy got blown up he obviously tried to move on, after being told she is dead by everyone, everyone telling you that you've mourned enough its time to move on and then after a while you do." Ty said.

He hadn't been a victim of being told to move on but he knew some people that were and it always irritated him, _let the person mourn as long as they need to_, Ty thought. Ty did know what it was like to mourn though, he mourned his friends, he mourned Ka'Reena, he still missed them but if one of them or all of them all of the sudden were alive again and the same people he knew he wouldn't shun them, he'd get them tested to make sure they were them and they didn't have a bomb in them or a tracker but he would be ecstatic to see them that's for sure. Chakwas looked attentive as he continued again, "And then after all your mourning after you finally move on and tell yourself that your done mourning and things will be different all of the sudden she shows up again and those feelings that you thought you moved on from are brought back because you never really did move on but now you see her as foreign to you because of who she is using to defeat an enemy and there happens to be an Alliance most wanted criminal at her side. Now she is different in your eyes but despite all that you still have feelings for her but that criminal is standing there blocking the thoughts from your mind, I mean when you first learned who I was what was your reaction?" Ty asked.

Ty hadn't put much thought into being in Kaiden's shoes back on Horizon but as he was talking he was imagining his point of view or at least what he assumed it would be, Chakwas let out a laugh though at his question before she said "I thought Shepard was crazy for wanting to bring you onto the squad and then wanting to bring you back to life. I reminded her of everything your grandfather had done what you had been reported of doing. I thought you were a monster quite honestly but it seems I was quite wrong." That was the common reaction of people that were in the Alliance or C-Sec so Ty wasn't surprised, "Exactly you thought I was this terrible person so put yourself in Kaiden's shoes, he sees his long lost love with me and Garrus with reports of working with Cerberus so he's obviously pissed off and you got me and my mouth making it worse so he just walks away leaving her there and she feels betrayed. She hasn't changed but everyone around her moved on because in those two years she was gone shit happened but she is the same as she was two years ago." Ty said.

Chakwas nodded in agreement or at least Ty thought it was agreement though he was unsure, Ty moved his hand through the air to show time moving forward as he said "Now fast forward time to now, she probably still has feelings for him, he may have apologized and I'm not going to stick a knife in it. If there are any feelings still there I don't want to step into the territory and screw stuff up, you know?"

Chakwas seemed to ponder it for a minute either that or she was becoming to drunk to articulate well so Ty just stayed quiet and waited for either Chakwas to continue the conversation or pass out, Chakwas looked at her empty glass like there was something missing other than it being empty then she looked up and said "I understand, I wish I could tell you if Kaiden and Shepard reconciled but I do not know." Ty waved her off and said, "Don't worry about it 'cause I'm not going to worry about it. It wouldn't work anyway." Chakwas frowned slightly as she asked "Why not?" "She is apart of the Alliance and I'm on their wanted list, there isn't any way to do anything with it without me screwing up her life and I'm not going to do that." Ty said. "Because working with Cerberus isn't a huge risk either?" Chakwas asked. "That is different and easy for her to get out of by saying she was using them or something." Ty said. "And you two aren't stubborn enough to find a way to make it work?" Chakwas asked with a smile. Ty attempted to retort but stopped, she had him there with the stubbornness stuff, "I don't want to screw up her life." Ty responded lamely.

The doors opened behind Ty so he looked back but saw no one there so he just turned back to Chakwas who was pouring herself another drink, "Remind me if I ever start drinking that I shouldn't try and go drink for drink against you." Ty said with a smile. "Shepard's the only one that can hold up against me and beat me, she doesn't drink that often but when she does she can take a lot." Chakwas said. The doctor drank what was in her cup then went for the bottle again but wasn't able to grab it since it was floating, Ty and Chakwas both looked at the bottle weirdly and Chakwas asked "Is that bottle floating or am I just plastered?" Ty stared for a second longer but then noticed the shimmer of a tactical cloak that had a feminine figure, he smiled since he almost forgot that Shepard had left to go recruit Kasumi, "Hey Kasumi I didn't know you were stealing Brandy now, did I put you out of business?" Ty asked.

Ty heard a light chuckle then Kasumi un-cloaked, she looked the same as the last time he saw her and still wore her hood up which wasn't that much of a surprise since he had only ever seen it off of her once and that was by complete accident. Keiji and Kasumi never forgave him for that, something about "ruining their moment" before the heist they went on since he made a comment about Kasumi liking it on top or Keiji preferring it on bottom, they chased him out after that since they were still fully clothed. "Please not even you could do that, mind if I have a drink?" Kasumi asked Chakwas. Before she answered Kasumi put the bottles to her lips and took a few swigs of it before she put it down next to Chakwas and asked "So what brought the most famous thief here, credits or the chance to steal someone else's loot?" Ty smirked; she really never got over that one either. "Are you still pissed off about that, it was three years ago Kasumi." "Yea I am, it was a score of a lifetime and you took it from me." Kasumi said crossing her arms. Ty shook his head and said "You started it." "I did not." Kasumi retorted childishly. "Yes you did, I was minding my own business trying to steal from that Blue Suns cash cow but as I got to the safe you locked me out and took my score so all I did was return the favor." Ty said. "Yeah but my score was bigger, it was three times the amount of yours." Kasumi said putting three fingers up.

Ty shrugged to himself, she had a valid point but all is fair in love and war and she made it a war, not a violent war but a war of another sort. Ty stood up and Kasumi shook her head at him as he said, "Details details either way you started it." Ty said. They stared each other down for a second then they broke into laughter and gave each other a hug, "Its good to see you alive and in one piece, news was that you got taken out by the Blue Suns on Omega." Kasumi said as they let go of each other.

That was Arias way of keeping everyone off his ass while he was on the mission, he liked it and that meant that anyone who knew him would either friend or foe would have a great reaction when they saw him walking about. "Tyler Rhoddy has died many times" was one of the stories on Omega that it would add to unfortunately but Ty didn't really care at the moment, "No doubt that was Aria after she found out I was alive, how you been last time we saw each other you were with Keiji and you two were shacking up." Kasumi got really quiet which told Ty all he needed to know, he felt really bad for her and felt like an asshole for just saying it without considering him being dead. They were lovers and he was gone now, Ty hoped it wasn't in front of her at least, that kind of wound never healed. "Shit I'm sorry Kasumi, hey Chakwas mind if I go talk to Kasumi?" Ty asked. "Go ahead Ty I'm going to take a nap." Chakwas said as she started forcing herself to her feet.

Ty put his hand on Kasumi's shoulder and ushered her towards the door, they got out and Kasumi started, "So why is it I hear that you are not dead from someone I just met minutes ago and not from you?" Kasumi asked. Ty chuckled and said "Didn't really think that my friends would believe that I was actually dead and haven't really taken the time to make sure the remaining friends I have know." "You could've at least sent a message stating that you got injured or recruited and you were going to be out of contact, I had my own personal ceremony for you." Kasumi said. After a few long in depth talks Kasumi and Ty came to an agreement about a what if scenario about their deaths and Ty asked her to put a candle in a bowl and have a moment of prayer or silence which ever she preferred but he never expected her to remember the talk since it was just a what if thing, "Candle in the bowl?" Ty asked. "Yeah…I went to the same place I had Keiji's…It's been hard." Kasumi said with a tinge of sadness. "I'm sorry." Ty apologized. "I'm going to have to steal your candle back now." Kasumi joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

An image of Kasumi using a fishing pole to try and get the bowl without knocking the candle into the water went through Ty's head making him chuckle, "Don't forget to wear a bathing suit." Ty said. Ty looked around and asked, "Where you staying, we can talk there." "The A.I. said it was on the same side as your room just on the other side of the bathroom, I checked it out it has a nice lounge in it and a bar." Kasumi said. "Sounds like it suits you just fine then, to answer your question I came on board because Shepard offered to help me find a friend who was kidnapped and I promised to see the mission through without charge…not that I've really been known for charging any time recently." Ty said as they got to her door. "Yeah you're about as cheap as they come." Kasumi joked. Ty chuckled and said "Ouch." "Did you find your friend?" Kasumi asked.

The door opened and they walked into her room, which was on the other side of the wall next to Ty's room facing out into the stars like his, Kasumi sat on the couch and Ty grabbed a bar stool and walked it over to her and sat down on it, "Yea it all worked out, everything was finished that was started eight years ago." Ty said. Kasumi smiled and said "So you finally came full circle, took you long enough." "Hunting and killing isn't as easy as planning a heist, so what you here for?" Ty asked. "Hock." Kasumi said. _The infamous Hock, why the hell is she going after him, _Ty thought. He went over all the reasons he could fathom going after that asshole for but came up mostly blank until he hit one thought that he was certain was spot on, "What did he take from Keiji?" Ty asked. Kasumi fidgeted slightly before she said, "His graybox holding all of his memories, there's something important on it that I need to see and Hocks got it." Kasumi said. Ty hmmed to himself as he thought about what she said, the Spirits had a funny way of bringing people together. "Sounds like we're all bound by our pasts, Shepard promise to help?" Ty asked.

Kasumi nodded and as she did the doors to her room opened, Ty looked over and Shepard was standing there in her casual clothes. The Normandy began to hum and Ty nodded at Shepard and said "Hey Shepard." "Shep I was impressed with the ship and the A.I. and my room but managing to get him." Kasumi pointed at Ty and then continued, "Is a huge feat even for you. Definitely considering the sides of the world you both come from." Kasumi said. "What are you saying? That I don't know how to play nice?" Ty asked. "You did point a gun in my face when we first talked." Shepard said with a smile. "I was pissed off." Ty retorted. "And you knocked Keiji out." Kasumi responded. Ty put his hands up as he said "Wait a minute that was actually for a good cause." "Good cause? You mean jumping out of an exploding building?" Kasumi asked. "Saved his ass didn't I?" Ty asked. "Yea bu-" Ty interrupted Kasumi "Case closed Kasumi." Shepard chuckled at the two as she asked, "You two know each other well?" Ty nodded and said "After I got payback for her stealing my loot by stealing hers she decided to pop a visit with me while I was on Omega and after that we became quick friends and began thieving together for a while, she's the thief with kleptomania that said "I needed to cheer up."" "Because you did Mr. Dark and Scary." Kasumi retorted with a smile. "Anyway we worked together until I started picking up the pace on finding Suns." Ty said.

Shepard nodded but Kasumi laughed and said "More like you disappeared on me before one of my biggest heist that was successful; you could've taken a third if you helped out." Ty shook his head in response and said "I had enough cash already I was thieving for sport, we leaving the Citadel Shepard?" "Yea heading for Pragia now, it'll be four days before we get there, mind if I borrow Ty from you Kasumi?" Shepard asked. Kasumi shook her head but Ty saw the mischievous smile cross her lips, that usually meant something bad for him, "Not at all, I don't know if you were given the warning yet but spending alone time with him can be dangerous." Kasumi said with a smile. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ty asked as he put the bar stool back. "I'm just saying that almost all women who have spent alone time with you end up falling in love with you except for yours truly, that other Quarian Tali, or at least I don't think she did, there was that Asari dancer who you are friends with and all but one of the girls in your squad and a few others. The rest have fallen for him so be careful Shepard." The smile that crossed Shepard's lips didn't make Ty feel any better as she said "I'll keep that in mind."

**A/N: Hey SharpRevan thanks for the review! I have a feeling that scene would have the most Renegade/Paragon interrupts than all the other scenes that had a multitude of interrupts if it were real but alas I agree completely about wanting to give that argument to the Illusive man, it would be fun doing that. A quick note, I doubt the shuttle is capable of that stuff but it just seemed like to good of an idea to pass up so I put it in here, also Ty and Whitney see each other as siblings though they are not, I don't know if I conveyed that very well but just in case there is any confusion I put this here. I hope this chapter is enjoyable for all of you and I will see you next time.**


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

More Than Friends

After putting the bar stool down back where he found it Ty turned back towards Shepard and began to walk over to her, despite his better intentions telling him it was a bad idea he was going to ask to go back to his room to talk so he could get all his gear off since he hadn't taken the time to take all of it off after helping out Garrus. He did get to rip the Illusive Man a new one and then talk a little with Jack, Chakwas and Kasumi but he wanted to take all the weight off of him so his body could have a slight break. That was something that he still wasn't used to, or at least something he was trying to work himself back into. After Ka'Reena was killed he hadn't allowed himself to relax, the weight of his guns and tomahawks had become a normal to have on all day and all night until the few hours he slept but even then he had a pistol right under his pillow just in case.

The luxury of the Normandy and being apart of a squad with little to no duties aside from the ground team was something Ty was acclimatizing to, Ty reached Shepard and said "Mind if we talk in my room, I gotta get my gear off still." A light giggle came from Kasumi which was one of the things his gut warned him about, "See there it is, that's how he gets you. He makes it sound like an innocent offer and then you're head over heels for him before you even realize it." Kasumi joked. Ty would have attempted an argument but he considered how he and Jessica met and then what happened after, she wasn't head over heels for him but he didn't have much room to argue. Shepard had a big smirk on her face as Ty found himself shaking his head in response to Kasumi, "No argument Ty?" Shepard asked with her smirk. "That…hasn't happened." Ty responded lamely. "It has hasn't it?" Shepard asked with a big stupid grin coming to her face.

Of all his bad responses that one was one of his worst ones, he turned himself into cannon fodder for jokes and there wasn't anything he could say to retort. _Damn you Kasumi,_ Ty thought. "I told you Haley had a sister right?" Ty asked. "You did now regardless." Shepard stated. Ty glanced over at Kasumi who was attempting to contain herself from laughing hard, he was heavily considering stealing more of her loot in the future, "She and I met for the first time when she told me Haley was kidnapped, we were on Omega and there were some Blue Suns in the area and I didn't want her to become the next target so I brought her to my family's home base and after discussing the details of what she knew about Haley…" Ty trailed off and Kasumi began laughing. "It wasn't my intention." Ty responded.

As Kasumi's laughing began to die down both Ty and Shepard shook their heads for separate reasons, Ty did because of Kasumi getting him stuck with a joke she hadn't thought she would have got him with and Shepard was shaking hers in humor as she too laughed with Kasumi. "It seems my warning is justified." Kasumi said. After mentally kicking his own ass for allowing himself to get stuck like that and planning to steal Kasumi's next big score Ty finally found some words though it was already to late to save himself, "Ha ha Kasumi you're hilarious." Ty said. "Thank you." Kasumi said with a smile. Ty looked back to Shepard and nodded at the door and asked "Can we go now?" Shepard nodded and after both said their goodbyes to Kasumi they left her room and headed around the corner back to his room, they walked through the door and Ty said "Make yourself at home." Shepard headed towards his bed as Ty went to his table and started putting his gear onto it starting with his sniper, "How you holding up Shepard?" Ty asked. "Honestly?" Shepard asked.

Ty pulled his tomahawks off his back and twirled them in his hands as he did then put them down and took off all the holsters on his upper body and put them down, he was a little caught off guard by her response. He knew she was human and had just almost had her whole memory wiped but he half expected her to say that she was fine with some witty remark, "If you don't want to answer honestly then no but I'd prefer to hear the truth since I know despite the great façade you put up of being invincible your still human, you've shown me that much." Ty said as he pulled his new tomahawk holders off with the tomahawks still inside. Shepard stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating honesty or to lie Ty assumed but he remained quiet while he waited for her answer.

Shepard was a warrior on the battlefield as was Ty but off the battlefield she wasn't an emotionless person, she looked after her crew more than most people Ty knew of would but she rarely talked about her own self and how she felt. Ty had been granted a few moments where she did and maybe that was just because she felt she owed him something for saving her life on Omega or maybe, like everyone had been pointing out recently, she held some type of feelings for him and felt comfortable talking about it with him the few times she did though he hoped it was just her being friendly. "I haven't had any problems controlling my biotics and no headaches so in that aspect I'm fine but…" Shepard trailed off. "But shit just isn't getting any easier?" Ty asked. Shepard chuckled slightly as Ty turned around from his desk; Shepard was lying down on his bed looking up at the stars, "That's the short version." Shepard said. "And you don't wanna talk about the long version." Ty stated.

After a few brief moments Shepard nodded slightly, that was the end of that conversation and Ty wasn't going to push it so he looked out to the stars and asked, "Great view huh?" Hind sight he knew it was a bad choice of words but it was to late at that point as Shepard shook her head slightly and seemed to have a smirk on her face as she said "Men." Ty didn't realize what she meant at first as he looked from the stars back to her, "What? Oh you thought…Wow I should have really worded that better, I was asking about the stars." Ty said as he walked towards the plush chair looking out at the stars. Shepard looked up with an even bigger smirk than she had before and Ty knew he set himself up once again, "So you don't think I'm a good view? That hurts my feelings Ty." _Add another mental kick to the ass,_ Ty thought. Ty attempted to back peddle, "I never said that you weren't a good view I was just talking about this time in particular I was asking about the stars." Ty said. "So you have checked me out?" Shepard teased. _Son of a bitch,_ Ty thought. "I…can we move on please?" Ty asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

Shepard had a smile of victory on her face as she laid back down, she had gotten either satisfaction or some question she had answered out of that brief conversation or she got both Ty wasn't sure but he was hoping they wouldn't go back to that line of questioning. Shepard stayed quiet for a while as Ty sat down in the plush chair in front of his bed, "I used to have a room like this back when I was kid going from ship to ship, huh hard to believe how long ago that was. You know as a military kid I always dreamed of being able to be the person you saw in the vids, I'd be helping people out, stopping the bad guys and maybe even saving the galaxy from some threat and meeting someone and falling in love with them, it was my dream." Shepard said.

Ty chuckled slightly, that was one hell of a dream but that was what all kids did, dream the impossible and never allowing anything to stop it. He wasn't sure why a kid would believe military life or any type of fighting life style would be romantic but then again as kids you didn't know any better. "Military life isn't as romantic as it seems I take it." Ty said with a smirk. Shepard let out a short laugh and said "Not even a little bit, Kaiden was the second person I ever stepped out with in the military and both relationships I had were against regs, I guess I was to hard headed to let that get in the way." That wasn't a surprise, saying Shepard was hard headed was like saying water was wet, Ty also understood slightly why the military had regulations against relationship but Ty didn't understand why they tried to stop it, the soldiers could hide it and if you banned relationships you might as well ban friendships, both would make you second guess orders if it meant saving your friend or leaving them behind for some objective.

That's how Ty saw it at least it and that was one of the many reasons why he couldn't join the military, friends always came before the mission for him, Ty couldn't stop himself from making a joke though, "You must've had a great time by yourself." Ty said waiting for her response. Shepard seemed to roll her eyes with a smile as she said "Shut up." Ty chuckled slightly but then stopped as he said, "If they didn't make military life seem so glamorous then no one would sign up, I'm just surprised you dreamed of being that person with all the weight of the Universe on your shoulders." Ty said.

Shepard shrugged and she seemed to relax more on the bed as she got herself more comfortable, "I didn't want all the weight but as crazy as it sounds I don't think I was cut out for much else, I'm not your stay at home woman working a nine to five job, even when I was a teen I thrived at causing trouble my mom would get reports all the time about it." They had only spoken about her family briefly and that was because Ty decided to change the subject from his mother that he hadn't really known the truth about to her family, "You still in contact with her?" Ty asked. Shepard shook her head and said "No after I was…rebuilt I got a message from her about having to hear it third hand from Alliance Brass that her daughter was alive, she thinks I'm on some top secret mission which is why I can't contact her." "Not technically false." Ty responded. Shepard shook her head again and said "Not true either." Shepard stated. "You should contact her." Ty said. Shepard let out a sigh, "I don't think I should face her until we're done with Cerberus." Shepard said.

Maybe she was right about not talking to her mother until she was done with Cerberus but Ty didn't like the idea that this mission could end in all of their deaths and she didn't talk to her mother at least for a little while, Ty sighed and got out of his seat and sat down on the bed next to Shepard, Shepard looked over at him and said "We haven't talked a lot since Scrum and the Suns, I notice you have a new necklace, tattoo, picture, holo, and I've also heard that you found out about your mother." All true statements but Ty knew that she was trying to change the subject just like he had done before but unlike her he wasn't going to let that slide, Ty nodded and said "Yea I did but don't switch the conversation, its not my business but I think you should talk to your mom. You don't have to tell her that you're working with Cerberus, you don't need to tell her I'm on board this ship either but you should at least talk to her." Shepard huffed a little and said "My mom hates Cerberus and she'd probably want to disown me for even considering using them to help me take out the Collectors." Ty shook his head and asked in an unbelieving tone, "Disown you?" "Okay maybe not that bad." Shepard responded. "I won't talk to you about it anymore since it's not my business but you're trying to get everyone clear headed for the mission but you need to be cleared as well. The Reapers could come tomorrow and kill everything we know and you might regret not talking to your mom one last time that's all I'm saying."

Shepard stayed quiet and Ty got off the bed, she wanted to know some of the things that had changed since Scrum and the Blue Sun base so he decided that he'd start with the necklace, holo and picture, Ty grabbed the picture off and the holo off the nightstand and as he walked back over he said "I'm going to hazard a guess and say Jack gave you the really short Jack version of me and Ka'Reena." Shepard chuckled and said "You'd be guessing correctly." Ty sat down crossed legged next to her again and put the holo on her belly and said "The message in there is from Ka'Reena before she died and this picture is of all of us together, its been edited since the original was just me, my dad, my brother, Darian and Ka'Reena but they did a good job of it."

Shepard sat up and held the holo in her hand staring at it intently before looking back up at Ty with a cautious look, "Are you sure you want me to hear this? This is personal." Shepard asked. "Yeah it is but…You're a great friend Shepard and if this helps you understand me more than I'm willing to share, I'd do the whole mind joining thing but I go unconscious afterwards which leaves me very un-conversational." Ty said. Shepard smiled slightly but then looked back at the holo for a few seconds until she opened it and Ka'Reena popped up again starting the message, "Ty if you have found this than I am probably dead because of my pilgrimage or because the Suns came for me. Please if it's the second do not blame yourself for it you Bosh'tet you gave me probably the best two years of my life that I would ever live."

Ty laughed a little again at her calling him a Bosh'tet then she continued "I know life without me is going to be hard for you with what you have already lost but know I will always be watching over you and making sure you are okay. Tell Tali to be safe and that I loved her like a sister, she was a great friend. Until we see each other again I want you to always feel my love and take my soul into yours and continue to live your life. Don't mourn me forever and try to find love again and be sure to love that person like you did me it'll make that person very lucky." Ty had control of his emotions so he wouldn't start balling like he did last time as the message got to the hard part, "I love you Ty forever and always, I will be as free as dust in the solar wind until you find me in the next life. Goodbye my Bosh'tet bondmate, keelah 'se lai."

The message closed and Shepard looked over at Ty who was undoing the star necklace and showing it to her, "Este es su estrella guia, this is her guiding star. Tali gave it to her for her pilgrimage so she could find her way back home, figuratively speaking. Aria had found it on Jentha, the bitch who kicked my ass on Omega and sliced my pretty face up with my own tomahawk when you saved me before I died…that sounds weird." Ty said. "Yeah I can attest to that." Shepard responded. Shepard put the holo down and Ty put the necklace in her hand so she could examine it, "Was that Spanish?" Shepard asked as she examined the star. "Yea I learned it when I was a kid for shits and my brother learned Portuguese for some strange reason, I taught Reena a few things like the guiding star and a few other things." Ty said.

Shepard ran her finger along all nine sides of the star; she looked up at Ty as she handed it back to him and asked "Is bondmate as serious as it sounds?" Ty nodded and put the necklace back on and said "A year into being together, I was sixteen at the time we first started dating but seventeen at this point, we started talking about being together forever, she'd have had her duty on the flotilla after her pilgrimage and I wouldn't be allowed on so we would only see each other once in a while…I was seriously in love with her Shepard. We loved each other so much that she was willing to give up going back to the flotilla for me though I was entirely against it since she had family there and I'd be fine with once in a while because one I don't cheat and two she was well worth it. We never had some official thing like a marriage but we made it official to ourselves, bonded for life and after is what told each other…I didn't know this message existed till after I came back from Illium after visiting with my family but I knew she was still watching over me guiding me on my road."

Shepard stared at the picture for along time then she handed it back to him and said "She was beautiful." "Yeah she was, now when you see Tali you have an idea of what she looks like under the mask." Shepard smiled and Ty put the holo on top of the picture frame and set it to the side, "She's one of the people I have been fighting for these past years along with my fallen friends. She was everything to me and still is in a way. I figure I should hold onto that since I got to experience true love once in my life and it probably was a one time thing." Ty said. "You really believe that?" Shepard asked.

Ty shrugged as his dads words rang through his head, he knew it was true that it was a choice to find love or not a second time and maybe he would but with the war it seemed unlikely for a while, Shepard laid back down and stared at the stars for a moment than said "Do you believe in destiny?" "Normally no but that changed recently." Ty said. "Why?" Shepard asked. Ty smirked a little to himself and said "I met you." Shepard looked up with a questioning look and asked "What do you mean?" "I like to think sometimes that things happen for a reason and that the spirits of the fallen are watching over us all. Destiny I didn't believe because it meant I wasn't in control of me and what I do it meant something else was controlling it but I think you have a destiny or you were the right person at the right place and right time." Ty said as he stood up and walked to the window looking out at the stars. "What makes you say that?" Shepard asked as she sat up.

He wasn't sure if he really believed it was a destiny of a sort but the way everything played out for her made him wonder if the Spirits of all the fallen and all the races the Reapers killed moving things into motion so the cycle of death would stop, that or someone was just having way to much fun giving Shepard a story to tell to her kids in the future and decided to throw all the people of the Galaxy into the mix and pull a certain group of individuals into her squad to help her succeed_. It is probably the Spirits trying to help us while having fun with it_, Ty thought. Ty paced a little and said "You were born a spacer, joined the alliance when you were old enough, lost your squad to the maws, got N7 ranked at some point, Eden Prime, first human Spectre, you and your squad took down Saren and learned of the Reaper threat and our maybe imminent destruction. You got spaced and then you get revived to fight the Collectors and Reapers again, either that's one hell of a luck and karma wheel you got there or the Spirits have some sort of plan." "Do you think I'm the universes savior?" Shepard asked. "Well if the Spirits aint saving us then it might as well be you." Ty said with a laugh.

Shepard stood up and asked "You believe in a higher power stopping this?" Ty shook his head, that was one thing he had learned, the Spirits didn't involve themselves no matter what they just guided the best they could. The Spirits wouldn't stop it but he believed with all his being that Shepard would find a way, "No but I believe in you completely." Ty said. Shepard got to Ty's side and said, "Thank you for the vote of confidence." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "I have more than confidence in you Shepard." Ty said. The pair stood in silence looking out into space, Ty enjoyed the comfortable silence between them while both of them were lost in their own thoughts, it reminded him of when his brother and him used to meditate with one another.

The pair stood for a little bit longer in silence until Shepard broke it, "Do you really think we can pull this off, Collectors and Reapers?" Ty looked over at her with a bit of shock and asked "Don't you?" Shepard grabbed her left arm at the bicep with her right hand as she said, "I'm trying to take it day by day hoping that we'll find something to even the odds but as it stands now with no one united, no. Not the Reapers at least." Shepard said. She made a valid point and Ty had to agree slightly despite his loyalty and belief in her, the way the Galaxy was right now the Reapers would wipe them all out. Together they could fight them but if they tried to fight them individually each race would end up dying, there was still hope in Ty's eyes with Shepard spearheading the effort, "We still have time Shepard, we can still prepare and be ready for them. We have the advantage of knowing they are coming and that sure as shit is a better start than the Prothean's had." Ty said. Shepard looked him in the eyes and searched his eyes for something as she asked, "Will you be ready when the time comes to fight?"

He was ready for the fight and he wasn't going to sit by and let the Reapers kill everyone he cared about, Ty nodded with a smile and said "I'll be ready and at your side fighting for everything we hold dear." Shepard smiled in return and Ty couldn't help but notice that she had a beautiful smile even if she didn't show any teeth that time, "I couldn't wish for anyone else to be with me going to battle with them." Shepard said. Ty shrugged and said jokingly, "Sure you could but none would make you smile like me." Shepard smiled again and Ty said "See." They stood in silence for a few seconds staring at the stars until Shepard finally said "Thank you for being here for me." "No problem." Ty said. "Were you always like this back before you lost your crew and Ka'Reena?" Shepard asked. Ty raised an eyebrow in response and asked, "Like what?" "Always there for your friends when they were down or needing to talk to someone?" Shepard asked.

It was an odd question which caught Ty a little off guard, the answer was simple it was yes but it was either his mind playing tricks on him or Shepard was leading him to a question she wanted to ask, "Yea I've always tried to be there for them but sometimes I wasn't there for them like they wanted, some of them wanted more than I could be for them but sometimes I couldn't be that guy. I learned a while back that I can't be everyone's boyfriend or really close guy friend because of the problems that come along with it, back when I got slapped seven times was because I tried to be that for them all, I thought I could work it out because I liked them all a lot but, well I got slapped seven times for it."

Shepard chuckled a little and smiled but she stopped herself and asked "Why did you get together with one of your squad mates?" Another odd question and Ty was sensing more and more that she was leading him to a question, "Normally I don't believe in sticking my pen in the squads ink it just makes things messy between the crew definitely when you're the leader, but I found Tara attractive and she was a lot of fun and she was attracted to me for some strange reason. She was near on eighty so really young by Asari standards and after getting to know one another better I decided to make the exception to my rule and it worked out to my surprise. We had an on and off again relationship though, we never fought I just…we just never had the courage to make that commitment for more than a few months so we'd just separate and do what we wanted still the best of friends and then we'd start becoming more flirty with each other and we'd end up back in a committed relationship until we stopped again." Ty said. "Would you make any exceptions in this crew?" Shepard asked.

Ty smirked to himself as she made it clear that she not only was indeed guiding him to a question but also trying to subtly ask if he was interested in her. He wasn't sure how this conversation would play out and he felt slightly worried about it but he didn't let it show as he walked back to his bed and sat on it, "It's okay just to ask whatever it is you wanna ask Shepard instead of playing this question game until you get to the one you want." Ty said as he laid back to look at the stars. He hoped their friendship would still be intact after this.

* * *

It was now or never for Shepard, she closed her eyes as Ty laid down on his bed, she intertwined her fingers feeling her nervousness starting to get to her. She had summoned up enough courage to get him going to this question now it was time to ask. Ever since he woke up and they started talking she had steadily started liking him more and more to this point which was more than a friend and comrade, she didn't know at first if it was just because she wanted to blow off steam or because she liked him but now she was more than certain that it was more than a blow off steam feeling.

He was more than what the Alliance had ever said, he was better than the lies they told and she knew it, she had seen it and even had been saved by the man. His pleading eyes were still in her mind but the smile he'd give her and the look in his eyes when he did blocked it out on most occasions. He was always sincere to her, never faked his smile and always meant what he said, he cared genuinely about everyone on the ship, or at least everyone he knew on a personal level. Shepard couldn't stop the feelings she was starting to have for him because the more time they spent together the more she wanted to spend with him on an even more personal level though seeing Haley give him a peck on the lips deflated her balloon a little but it didn't seem like they were together it was just how their friendship was. Haley seemed like the type of girl that Ty would want to stay with but he stopped himself before he did, just like he didn't pursue Shepard or anyone else on the ship.

The feelings she was having for this man that she first thought was just an asshole who didn't care about anyone but himself were puzzling, _if he does accept me how would it work? We are from opposite worlds and the Alliance and Citadel want him dead along with his family, and Kaiden…that relationship is already turning into permanent nothingness and if Ty reciprocated my feelings and we got together that friendship I had with him would be destroyed. Not that it matters now anyway he already broke up with me but he was my friend and I still care about him…even if he did stomp my heart flat._ Shepard shook off the thought, if she was ever going to be able to sleep at night she was going to have to ask him, she needed to get her feelings out. If he denied her fine she wasn't going to force it on him but at least she made it known that she wanted more than to flirt with him.

Put her up against a suicide mission she'd go in head first, try to get her feelings out without pissing off the guy who always said "I don't want a relationship" and she became nervous. Come on girl you can do this just speak your mind and don't let your courage waver, _if anything he'll just keep up with his usual saying and we can deal with that we deal with harder odds than this._ Shepard opened her eyes and un-intertwined her fingers as her courage built up, she nodded to her reflection and thought, _It's now or never._

* * *

Ty heard Shepard walk towards the bed and then she laid on her back next to him, "I like you Ty, you intrigue me and I don't know why that is but I've learned that those feelings can never be understood and can't be explained. Do you…have any feelings for me?" Shepard asked. Truth was Ty found Shepard attractive on more than a physical level, her personality had always been attractive to him and her eyes were almost hypnotizing. He felt something for her though he wasn't sure what set of hormones thought it was a good idea since they were on opposite sides and there was no way of it working without him screwing up her life. Ty didn't know how to respond to her question in the slightest, "Shepard I…" Ty stopped himself trying to figure out what words to say, Shepard leaned up onto her elbow as she looked at him with her sapphire eyes, his first words were not his best, "This is crazy." Ty said.

Shepard smiled to Ty's surprise and said "I know, I won't lie Ty it scares the hell out of me thinking that if you do have these types of feelings for me what will happen to you." "Shepard forget about that for a second, if anyone ever caught wind that you were with me in any way aside from being a squad mate than everything you've worked for, Spectre, N7, Commander, all of your accomplishments are taken away." Ty said. Shepard nodded in response, she obviously had thought about this all before but it didn't make sense why she would still want to consider him an option. "I know that, I've thought about all the negative possibilities many times the last few nights but you still haven't given me an answer." Shepard stated.

Ty contemplated his answer, it was madness that he was even considering it but it wasn't like he hadn't done something insane before. "I…I do but the consequences are to great Shepard, I don't want to ruin your life and what you've worked for because of some set of hormones that chose a ridiculous time to think it would be a good idea. There's a war to be fought and you need your status to get everyone to come together and you don't need to be worrying about me dying or something." Ty said.

Shepard looked hopeful still as she examined Ty for a few seconds, none of this made sense but here he was finally admitting to himself that he had feelings for her and actually wondering if they could actually work. Shepard grabbed his hand which made him look over from his thoughts, her deep flawless sapphire eyes held his as she said in a tone that was mixed with comfort and care, "Ty I care about you and no matter if we took this path or not I would always think of you and worry if you were still alive or not while I was fighting. I understand where you're coming from, I know it could be dangerous for us both but I'd be willing to try if you were but I can see that you are still uncertain and I don't want you feeling forced into it or saying no because of you feel forced…I want you to decide on your own, I told myself I wouldn't force any of the crew to do anything or say anything any of you weren't comfortable with and I guess I forgot that included what I've been trying to do." "I need to know Shepard why me? Why are you so fixated on me? Are you just trying to fix the broken pieces?" Ty asked.

Shepard gave him a warm smile and said "No it's more than that but I'll give you some time to think about it and make your decision." "How long has it been more than a blow off steam or fix something thought?" Ty asked. "I don't know but I know it is more than that, thank you for the books." Shepard said with a smile. "Who told you Chakwas or EDI?" Ty asked. "You just did." Shepard said with a sly grin. Ty smirked and Shepard looked him in the eyes and asked "Will you give this, us, some thought Ty?" Ty looked down at their hands intertwined, there was something he liked about the way it looked but he then looked back into Shepard's eyes and said "Yeah I'll start thinking about it."


	33. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Bound to the Past

They were an hour or so away from Pragia now as Ty made his way down to engineering to look into how to install the upgrades he had mentioned to Shepard, after talking about giving the relationship between them a try Shepard and Ty talked for another two hours talking about different subjects like his new tattoo and some of the symbols and why he hadn't got a new hoodie to replace his burnt and ripped up one that he still wore. Ty's reason aside from not having a spare handy and being to lazy to have someone from his family drop a crate off at the next port they stopped at was that, like his scars, the tank top had become apart of him and he wasn't very willing to part from it. Ty had wondered how Garrus was holding up with how the whole thing with Sidonis went so he asked her about it, Garrus, though he hated Sidonis, said he could still see the good in him and if Shepard had moved he didn't think he could've pulled the trigger.

The time between the Citadel and Pragia usually wouldn't have taken the few days it had so far but Shepard decided to finish up the Project Firewalker mission that she was doing, Ty and Grunt bowed out of the squad for her last two missions with Grunt not wanting to puke all over the Hammerhead again and Ty not wanting to get in the vehicle with Shepard since she had made Grunt puke. After a few jokes about her driving from the squad that had been in the Hammerhead and those who hadn't Shepard picked Kasumi and Tali to go down to the planet Karumto in the Yakawa System inside the Caleston Rift. Ty and Garrus had a good laugh, after they were sure that the ground squad was okay after the volcanic activity started, with jokes about the mission being an explosive and fiery which then led to more jokes about Shepard's driving coming from Ty, Garrus, Tali and Kasumi. Tali said it wasn't as bad as the Mako but Kasumi did not like the Hammerhead in the slightest saying that "I am going to steal all the credits from whoever invented that stupid piece of machinery. I don't care if it allowed us to escape that volcano no one should ever be subjected to that thing."

After that the Normandy headed to the final area for Project Firewalker which was the planet Kopis in the Hoplos system in the Hades Nexus, Ty worked more on Grunts gun getting it finished while he waited for the crew to get back, Shepard brought down Garrus because of his jokes and Jacob who volunteered so he could stretch his legs and "get my adrenaline pumping and attempt to hold down my lunch" as he put it. Shepard offered to Ty to go saying "It'll be a ride you won't forget" but Ty decided that even with all the stunts he pulled on his bike and all the crap Valera put him through when she was on shuttle evac duty that Shepard's driving would probably be the first time his stomach couldn't handle the ride and he wasn't going to give Shepard or anyone else ammunition for giving him shit about not being able to hold his lunch.

The squad came back in one piece thankfully and Shepard had some strange orb with her, it was apparently bigger than it was when Ty saw it but it wasn't the first Shepard had encountered, something about the planet Eletania and a vision of something she wasn't sure about though she was sure both orbs were of Prothean make or maybe before them. Ty shrugged in response and said "As long as we all don't start hearing voices in our head." Shepard chuckled in response and they talked shortly about the finished Avenger in front of him and he told her it was for Grunt but she told him to wait on giving it to him since Grunt was acting strange. Ty asked what she had meant by that and after she told him what was wrong Ty responded by saying "Sounds like he's just being a Krogan" Shepard didn't seem to understand what he meant but she moved on from it, Ty had Kar in his squad and though he was still over a hundred years he was still had some of the same love for fighting that Grunt did, then again all Krogans like fighting but some like Wrex seemed more at ease than others. Maybe it was an age thing or maybe Kar and Grunt were just trigger happy, both scenarios were possible.

After the squad left and Ty finished up with the gun he headed up to the Crew Quarters and reminisced with Kasumi while both had a bowl of ramen. The pair were soon joined by Garrus and Jack with both coming out for food which led to all four made conversation with one another having a few laughs and Jack, Ty and Garrus trading sarcasm with one another while Kasumi jumped in here and there to egg on whoever was on the receiving end. Jack and Ty held a conversation with one another after Kasumi and Garrus left talking a little more about her past and then talking a little more about him telling the Illusive Man off, she seemed very…happy? Maybe not the right word but close to it.

On the ride to Pragia from the Hades Nexus Ty met with Miranda who was coming around from being pissed at him and Ty was attempting to figure out why she had been extremely pissed at him, in his eyes it couldn't have just been about him telling the Illusive Man off. So far from what she had told him it got down to Cerberus holding out on her and then that he was being so brash against the Illusive Man which could have led to her having to shoot him, to Ty's surprise she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to shoot him. She was impressed that he told the Illusive Man off though since there weren't many people who could say what he said and not be scared out of their mind of the reprisal but she also mentioned that he may have shortened his life span by doing that.

Ty even managed to talk to Mordin a little about his past with STG and the Genophage upgrade, Ty didn't voice his disagreement with it since the time he spent with Kar he grew to dislike the Genophage nearly as much as he disliked Cerberus and the Alliance. Ty just told Mordin he obviously did what he thought was right at the time and he hoped it didn't come back to bite him in his Salarian ass. Mordin was thankful for him not judging his decision and also talked to Ty about his infiltrating skills and how they could've used someone with his skills in STG if he was a Salarian but his standing in the galaxy and being human wouldn't allow him, he also added that telling off the leader of an organization, the Illusive Man, wouldn't be very good for STGs reputation.

All in all everything remained normal on the ship while they were going to Pragia the only thing that changed was that now Ty was thinking about two things the first being Shepard as more than a friend and the other was how he was going to upgrade the Normandy. Apparently Shepard liked his idea and got it all set up so when they docked next at a hub they'd get all the parts they needed to install his upgrades for propulsion and maneuverability.

The first thought of Shepard more than a friend was what Ty was mostly thinking about since upgrading the Normandy wasn't important at this moment in time since he didn't have the parts. He was still coming around to the idea of it all, he cared a lot for Shepard as a friend but a potential lover? He didn't know for certain. He had feelings for her and she had feelings for him that much he knew but were they both being motivated by a set of hormones that were looking for sexual desire or were the feelings actually real feelings? Could anything besides a great friendship be possible for them? What of her career and his life? They would have to put everything they held dear on the line for something they weren't sure was even possible. There was a possibility of it working, there was always a chance for anything to work but aside from the questions he was asking himself he still had that little voice in the back of his mind telling him not to get close with anyone since the last time he did she died. Shepard was a great person and the fact she had some interest in him was still shocking but he was doing his best to consider the two becoming more, _maybe it could work._

The sound of the elevator doors opening brought Ty from his thoughts and allowed him to step out and onto the Engineering deck and head to the engine room where he would be able to figure out more about getting his upgrades into the Normandy. As he walked in he began to examine the entirety of the engine room making a mental note of all the different aspects of it and locating the areas he was likely going to be working in. The hum of the drive core reminded Ty of his visits to Tara while she was working and of the first few flirty conversations they had, some led to an awkward silence between the two but it led to a great relationship and friendship and one spontaneous night in the engine room. Ty smirked slightly to himself as he approached the terminal in front of him while taking note that Tali was missing and only Donnelly and Daniels were working across from him.

One of Ty's biggest worries was getting zapped while working, normally getting zapped by his bike just shocked him, pun not intended, and scare him slightly but getting zapped was a bigger issue now since the ship was bigger than his bike which meant it could have enough power to "make him nothing but a pile of ash" as Tara and Ka'Reena warned him, being a pile of ash was not something he wanted. The other issue was how he'd convince the other three engineers to let him do it himself, Donnelly, Daniels might be easy but Tali? That was going to be extremely difficult if not impossible. If he'd mess something up it'd be like stealing a Krogan baby from its mother or father, he'd be dead before he knew what he did wrong and knowing that Tali had a shotgun and had shoved a pistol in his face which wasn't something he wanted to see twice in one life.

As he was looking at everything Donnelly started whispering to Daniels but thanks to Ty's great hearing Ty could hear him clearly, "What is he doing down here looking around at the equipment? If he breaks something I'll kill him." Donnelly whispered. Ty smirked to himself, he either didn't realize who Ty was or he had a set bigger than most people on the ship. _Or he brings a whole new meaning to "the fighting Irish." _Ty thought. Ty left the terminal and began looking more in depth at the room looking for the areas he was going to have to install the equipment into as Daniels snapped at Donnelly, "Shut up Ken he can probably hear you, besides do you know who that is?" Daniels asked. _Smart girl,_ Ty thought. "No not really I mean his hood kind of covers his face but his tattoos are familiar." Donnelly said. "That's Tyler Rhoddy, grandson of Franklin Rhoddy, son of Timothy Rhoddy and a killer in his own right, if you haven't noticed he is armed with tomahawks something he's fond of throwing into peoples faces. He saved Miranda and Shepard's life back on Omega by getting blown up twice and he still walked away." Ty wouldn't have said he "walked" away more like limped and then died and then got brought back. "That can't be him Gabby, Tyler Rhoddy wouldn't join with Cerberus, his family hates them." Donnelly said.

Well at least he knew that much but Donnelly was lucky that Ty wasn't his reputation, if he was Ty would have likely shot him in the leg and stepped on it just for fun for wearing a Cerberus symbol. Ty walked back over to the terminal and started looking through some of the schematics for the propulsion and FTL systems and then into the maneuverability when he heard Donnelly again, "See Gabby, Tyler Rhoddy doesn't know how to work on this stuff." Donnelly said. "When he comes over here and kills us I'm blaming you." Daniels said. Ty shook his head with a smile; the two made an interesting pair and Ty assume Daniels probably wore the pants in the friendship as well. As he read up on the systems in already he heard the doors open behind him and then footsteps that came to a stop, "Ty! This is a surprise what are you doing down here?" Tali asked. _There she is, this will either go really well or she'll kick me out and tell me to let her handle it all, Ty_ thought. Ty turned around and said "Checking on some things, Shepard's getting some upgrades for the ship and needs me to put them in since I've done it before on a much smaller scale." "What are the upgrades? Maybe I can help." Tali said walking up to the terminal.

Ty moved to the side and motioned over to the terminal where he had all the information pulled up, Tali was a hands on kind of person and probably would want to help him when he did it all, "Getting propulsion into FTL speeds quicker which is something I've perfected on my space bike." Ty started as Tali began reading over the information, "You're not going to start boasting about Relay hopping are you?" Tali asked with a tone dripping with sarcasm. Ty chuckled slightly knowing that it likely bothered her that he hadn't told her how he figured it out usually retorting with, "I'm a genius what can I say." Ty shook his head and said "Nope just saying that I figured it out all by myself. The other upgrade I had in mind was increasing maneuverability since the last Normandy didn't do very well avoiding the Collector cannon. I figure if I can get this big rig maneuvering better we may be able defeat that ship if we ever run into it again." Ty said. Tali nodded to herself as she began pushing buttons on the terminal as she said "I thought about that but I didn't have the parts and Shepard already used some of her resources on one of my upgrades already so I was waiting."

The Cyclonic Barrier Technology had been installed while Shepard, Ty and Garrus were chasing down Harkin and Ty was hoping it would give them a more protective edge against the Collectors along with the Silaris heavy ship armor that Shepard learned about from Jacob and had installed while Shepard, Ty and Miranda had been trying to reach Archangel. While Tali was looking at what he had pulled up she began hmming to herself acknowledging what Ty had been looking at was correct until she finally looked up and said, "Looks like you know what your doing, Ka'Reena taught you well." Tali said. _Her and Tara, though Tara's lessons usually involved a bunch of sexual innuendos, not sure if me learning a lot from that is good or bad_, Ty thought. "Yeah, she's who gave me the idea of the space bike and gave me my start on it, so you gonna be okay with me working down here?" Ty asked.

Tali leaned on her side against the terminal and if Ty's knowledge of Quarian body language was still good she was going to allow him, after a warning or two, "Now that depends on you, if you mess up the Normandy I will probably lock you up again in the nearest airlock and decide if I should open it this time." Tali said with a hint of sarcasm. Ty slammed his right hand into his chest where his heart is and said "You're breaking my heart Tali that hurts." Tali chuckled slightly but continued, "Oh I didn't know you were so sensitive Ty, maybe I should tell Garrus and Shepard about this side of you." Ty grabbed Tali's hand and said "Shove the stake in the rest of the way." Tali hit his hand and Ty acted out a dramatic death, Tali started laughing as Ty fell onto the ground, "You're such a Bosh'tet Ty." Tali said while laughing.

He enjoyed hearing the word come from Tali, even if the actual meaning of the word was an insult. It reminded him of Ka'Reena for obvious reasons but in this case it reminded him of the necklace around his neck and his intention to ask Tali if she wanted it, it was her gift to Ka'Reena so she deserved to have the choice of having it back as a reminder. Ty stood up and unhooked the necklace and held it out letting Tali take it into her hands as he said "Yeah I know, she told me all the time." Tali held it for a second and said in a saddened tone "I miss her." Ty nodded slightly in agreement and said "I know I do too, if you want it back you can have it since it is yours." Tali held it for a few more seconds then handed it back to him and said "It's yours now, I gave it to her and she'd want you to have it." Ty grabbed it and put it back on and said "My brother found an old holo she left of herself for me to find if the worst happened. She wanted me to let you know that you were her best friend and she loved you like a sister." Tali gave a slight nod and said "I know she did, thank you for telling me though."

Ty nodded and looked over to Donnelly and Daniels who were working again so he looked back over to Tali and asked "How are Donnelly and Daniels over there treating you?" Ty asked. "They are nice enough and they know what they are doing. You should go introduce yourself so they know why you're down here." Tali said. Ty shrugged a little remembering what Donnelly had been whispering and said "I dunno it may not be a good idea." Despite his protest Tali grabbed his hand and began dragging him over to Ken and Gabby as she said, "Come on I'll introduce you to them." "Tali wait." Ty said but she ignored him.

They stopped behind them and Tali said "Kenneth, Gabby this is Tyler Rhoddy but he likes to be called Ty, he's going to be down here working soon on some of the systems to get us upgraded for the Collectors." "Told you." Gabby said to Ken. Ty couldn't stop himself, "You should work on your whispering Ken it needs some work. I may have to take a finger or two for what you said." Ty joked. Ken paled instantly to much of Daniels and Ty's delight, "Oh shite, you wouldn't actually do that would you?" Ken asked nervously. "I wouldn't put it past him." Tali said with sarcasm.

Ty laughed at the oh shit look on Donnelly's face but instead of making him continue to be fearful Ty decided to end the joke as he said "Don't worry about it Donnelly if I wanted you dead or a few of your fingers I would have taken them already but I don't hurt innocents anyway so as long as you don't turn into that symbol." Ty pointed at the Cerberus insignia then continued "You won't be dead by my hands. Daniels you know a lot about propulsions systems right?" Ty asked. Daniels nodded and said "That's right." "Good at least we'll have an expert." Ty said. "Ehem." Tali cleared her throat. Ty chuckled and said "Don't get jealous Tali you're the chief engineer as far as I'm concerned so you'll be helping to, besides your more of a master not an expert." "What does that make Ken?" Tali asked. "He's like the sticky glue that holds it all together but he's the stuff that gets stuck on your fingers and makes you want to wash your hands. Or just the man with the accent that you need around." Ty joked. Ken nodded and said "It's the last one." "I'd say the first." Daniels stated.

Before anyone could say anything Jokers voice came over the intercom "Ty you still down there?" Ty looked up at the ceiling and asked, "Yeah what's up?" "Shepard wants you to head down to the shuttle we are a few minutes out from Pragia." Joker said. If there luck was good they'd be going in putting the bomb down and leaving without much trouble but if there usual luck held they were going to find trouble in some form or another, Ty wasn't entirely excited to go to the place anyway after what he had seen in Jack's memories of the place. The sound of Jack as a child screaming as she banged her hands against the glass echoed through Ty's mind momentarily but he brushed it off and said, "Okay I'll be down there waiting." "Roger that." Joker said. Ty looked over to Tali and said "That's my cue, I'll see you later." "Bye Ty don't do anything unusually crazy." Tali said. "No promises." Ty said with a smirk.

Ty took the elevator down and began waiting by the shuttle for Shepard and Jack to show up which was taking longer than he expected, he knew they were a few minutes out but he expected to at least be joined by the two before hand. As time continued to pass Ty decided to walk over to his pile of weapons and look for which he was going to work on next. After a few seconds of thought he ended up picking a Carnifix hand cannon and Viper sniper rife. Being able to figure out how to do everything on the Avenger bolstered his confidence to think it would be easier this time around and able to finish at two around the same time, painting would take long either way but fixing the ammo and giving it something extra hopefully wouldn't. He disassembled the guns so he could clean them later and as he did the elevator opened with both Jack and Shepard walking out both ready to go.

The two walked over to the shuttle as he put the last piece of the sniper down, he had an idea of who they were going to be for but at the moment he was more focused on getting onto the shuttle so they could head down to Pragia before Jack tore out a bulkhead. He reached the shuttle at the same time as them and Ty hopped in quickly with Shepard getting in behind him, Ty sat down near the window, Shepard sat down directly across from him looking to be in a Commander mindset while Jack sat down next to her looking ready to tear apart at any moment all the while looking ready to break down in tears, due to his usual stunts always risking his life he decided against asking why she had that look in her eyes since she more than likely would kill him.

As the shuttle started up Shepard looked up at Ty and asked "You ready Ty?" "To more than likely run into trouble and then nuke a Cerberus facility, hell yea." Ty responded. Shepard smirked and asked "What you think our luck isn't going to turn for the better? I'm sure it'll just be a get in and get out with no trouble mission." Ty shook his head and said "You just tempted fate; the Spirits are now going to just throw some shit at us just because they'll think it is funny." "It doesn't matter; we're blowing the place to hell either way." Jack stated. "Come on Ty it won't be that bad, last time we went out-" Ty interrupted Shepard "I almost got blown up by another missile, I had a death fight with a Turian and you put me between Garrus and his target." Ty stated. "You enjoyed it." Shepard retorted with a smirk.

The shuttle approached the Teltin Facility and as Ty looked out the window Jack started talking about it with Shepard with a little panic in her tone, the vegetation was overgrown and the facility looked barren and desolate. It might have been Ty's mind playing tricks on him but the energy from the place was stronger than anything he had ever felt before because he felt a heavy weight on his mind and his stomach felt like it was twisting. It reeked of evil and the memories of all the tortured souls felt like they were rebounding off of Ty's mind and seeping into his very soul, this place needed to burn. "Ty are you okay?" Shepard asked.

Ty didn't realize it but he had been gripping the tomahawks on his leg to the point his knuckles were turning white, his voice came out but he sounded like he did after he released his demon on Scrum, "This place burns today." Ty said his voice tinged with malice and anger. He felt his body relax and he felt surprised at the way his voice had changed, he felt something off about himself and it wasn't comforting in the slightest, Ty felt a hand on his shoulder making him realize Shepard was in front of him, "Ty?" Shepard asked tenderly. She and Jack looked worried about him in that moment; maybe they were worried his anger was getting a hold on him and didn't want it to be on them but Ty shook his head and said "This place feels wrong for more than the obvious reasons." Shepard raised an eyebrow, "How so?" Shepard asked. Ty felt the lingering weight still on his mind, this place hadn't been active for years but the memories were still stronger than anything he had ever encountered, and they hadn't touched down yet. "You girls can't feel the energy of memories as I do but normally I can't feel anything unless I really focus on it, my mind feels weighted down by a Krogan and my stomach feels like its twisting." Ty said as he rubbed his arms and continued "I feel cold but its warm in here, the memories of this place are powerful."

There was a look of genuine worry cross Shepard's face but it was Jack that spoke up first, "Could joining minds with me have done anything?" Jack asked. Ty looked at Jack and noticed a look of worry on her face as well, Ty wasn't sure if that had any effect in this. "I don't know...I've never experienced anything like this." The shuttle landed on the landing pad and Shepard looked out the window then back at Ty, "Do you want to sit this out Ty?" Shepard asked. Whatever this new feeling was Ty wasn't about to let it stop him from helping Shepard help Jack, Ty shook his head in response and said "No I'll be fine, come on lets get this done." "If you begin to feel any worse you let me know." Shepard said in her Commander tone. "Yes mother." Ty replied with a smirk.

Shepard got up with Jack getting up as well as Shepard hit the button to open the shuttle door, they both jumped out and into the downpour that was happening outside, _I already feel cold but now I'm gonna be cold and wet, lovely,_ Ty thought as he got up and followed them into the rain with his hood up. Within seconds Ty's clothes and body were completely soaked with his hair becoming soaked as well under his hood but Ty wasn't alone since Jack and Shepard both were drenched as well with the rain making Shepard's hair as wet as Ty's and the rain running down Jacks bald head and making her pants soaked. "Stairs over here, come on lets get out of this rain." Shepard said as she led the way down the stairs.

They walked quickly down the stairs and into the facility, Shepard squeezed her hair making water come pouring off as Ty took his hood off and did the same to both his hood and his own hair which had the ponytail holding the crown of his hair. Despite the even stronger lingering weight in his mind Ty looked at Shepard and said sarcastically "You always bring us to the nicest places Shepard, one day it's a place that burns through your shields the next its down pouring rain then there was the ice planet that was freezing the Hammerheads engines, what's next? Natural disasters or a swamp?" Shepard let out a laugh and to Ty's surprise Jack chuckled ever so slightly, "I think the next time I have a choice it'll be a beach and a warm sun with no one there trying to kill me." Shepard said.

After Ty and Shepard did their best to stop their hair from dripping Ty began looking around at the place, dried blood was smeared on some of the walls and there were open containers scattered across the first room, _probably how they brought the kids in fucking Cerberus bastards. _The energy of the room reeked of evil and death and it wasn't sitting well with Ty at all, he felt his mind slip momentarily making him hear screaming children and see mirages of them being dragged out of containers, Ty shook his head getting out of whatever he had been sucked into and focused on Jack's voice as she began talking, "I don't remember this room, I think its where they brought in all the new kids, they beaten and broken but alive…mostly." Jack said as she walked with Shepard. "This is so fucked up. There's a lingering evil in this place that I can feel, it's like a bunch of un-resting spirits forced to live the hell this place caused over and over." Ty said walking behind them. "Just stay with us Ty we'll be done in no time." Shepard reassured.

The cold feeling Ty had that the place was giving him turned into chills as they walked room to room with Jack remembering things as they went along, his stomach continued to feel more and more twisted and he continued to see mirages of different kids getting hurt by adults wearing Cerberus gear sometimes with screams sometimes with no noise at all. This place was going to leave a mark on him that was for sure. There was a recording that was still playing even after all these years, Shepard and Jack walked up to it as Ty walked down the stairs at a slower pace than usual, he gripped the hand rail tightly as he took each step individually on legs that he knew were firm but felt weak and bruised. He caught some of what the recording said talking about it being a Cerberus facility but they were hiding something from the Illusive Man. Maybe it was Jack or maybe the facility itself, hell maybe the Illusive Man didn't believe in experimenting on kids so the program was hidden but Ty found it unlikely that the Illusive Man would care about kids, _as long as it advanced the human race he was and is probably up for it_, Ty thought.

After getting to the bottom stair Shepard shut off the recording, "Sounds like Cerberus is more like a three headed dog then they thought, one head doesn't know what the other is doing or thinking." Ty said. "That's the norm but they didn't say what they were hiding from the Illusive Man." Jack stated. "I ran into a lot of failed Cerberus experiments back when I chased Saren and I ended up cleaning up the messes that ended in all of their deaths, and those were all sanctioned by glowy eyes himself. I can't imagine the fall out of the ones that aren't sanctioned." Shepard said. It sickened him to know kids were brought here and tortured all for biotic advancement in humans, it was severely wrong and he was happy they were going to blow it to hell even if it wasn't for him at least it would wipe this disgusting place off the map completely. "Burn it down." He heard himself whisper. Ty shook his head,_ I have to stay focused and keep my mind on a tight leash, this place is evil and if I fully slip into one of these memories…I'd probably be fucked up beyond all reasoning mentally_, Ty thought.

They walked down a set of stairs as Jack started remembering again, "I saw a light through the cracks and all that stood between me and it was a half dead guard…he was begging for his life." Jack said. _That guy is dead for sure,_ Ty thought. Suddenly the ghostly outline of the half dead guard and the young Jack using her immense biotic power to grab him and toss him into the wall cracking it and killing him after slamming him a few more times into it. Ty felt himself brace his hand against the cracked wall as the overbearing weight of the memories began to swarm his mind, "Get out of my head." Ty whispered to himself. "Ty?" Shepard asked in a worried tone. "I just saw Jack kill the guard, the memories of this place are overwhelmingly strong to the point I've begun to hear the screams of kids and see the ghostly mirages of the memories of this place. This place feels like the deepest circle of hell right now." Ty said as he dropped his hand from the wall.

Shepard stared at him inquisitively but he caught back up to them and motioned her to go forward, he knew the further they went the more he would begin to hear, feel and see but he was hoping they would find trouble, that would keep his mind away from this place and focused on the now. They walked down the stairs with Jack casting a worried glance at Ty as he grabbed his head as he heard an earth shattering yell coming from further up and biotic explosions following it. Shepard ever the adventurer looked around the room they were in and found some credits or upgrades for weapons, Ty wasn't sure which but she seemed pleased with herself as she hacked whatever it was but her pleased look disappeared when the growls of several Varren sounded off. Ty pulled out his pistols and started looking for the Varren, "Guess we stepped into the Varrens territory." Ty said. "Looks like captain obvious is on the scene again." Jack said sarcastically.

Part of Ty cursed himself for wishing for trouble and Shepard for tempting fate but before Ty could respond to Jack a Varren stalked around the corner in front of them and then began running towards them with a gross amount of drool coming out of its mouth, and as it charged about six others followed behind. A hail of bullets erupted towards the Varren from the squad trying to stop them before they got in biting range since their bite was like an alligator with great white teeth and Ty wasn't fond of bite marks unless they happened to be from a woman. Ty shot two in the head and another non-lethally in the body but that one was finished by Shepard with several shots in the head from her predator pistol; overkill had no meaning in this day and age of Reapers and Collectors. "I'LL THROW YOU LIKE A TOY!" Jack yelled. Two more were floating from Jacks pull field which she shot with her Carnifix hand cannon basically blowing their heads up. Five Varren were taken down leaving one of the last ones in lunging range of Jack who was busy shooting the other Varren in the head to realize, Ty aimed to shoot it but felt one of his tomahawks being pulled out of its holder which distracted him but then he felt a major force of biotic energy zoom past him almost knocking him over.

Shepard, the thief, had grabbed a tomahawk from Ty and biotic charged the Varren knocking it into the air backwards as she hit it. As she came out she threw the tomahawk piercing the Varren in the neck, a pretty well aimed shot for her first time throwing his tomahawk, it was a good plan of hers since his bullets may not have stopped it quick enough to stop it from getting Jack but he also knew she could have just biotic charged it and shot it so she obviously had been waiting to use his tomahawk for some time now. Ty walked over towards Shepard who was pulling the tomahawk out of the Varren after making sure it was dead by shooting it in the head so it wouldn't snap her arm off, she stood up and gave the tomahawk back to Ty with a smirk as she said "Couldn't resist." "Most can't once they meet me." Ty fired back as he put his tomahawk away.

She rolled her eyes at him and motioned them to keep moving forward and they did but not for very long since there was an arena set up that Jack started talking to Shepard about. They used to place Jack against the other kids and they'd hurt her for hesitating but fill her with drugs when she attacked, "I still get a warm feeling in fights." Jack said with a smile. The earth shattering yell sounded off again but it felt like it was right in front of him and sure enough the ghostly form of young Jack getting electrocuted for holding back appeared to Ty and then followed by her charging someone else with a fist of biotic energy. "Another memory?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded and said "Jack getting electrocuted then charging another kid with a fist of biotic fury." "This was a bad idea." Jack said to Shepard.

Ty knew she meant bringing him and he knew she meant it in a nicer way then it sounded but Shepard shook her head and said "It's going to be fine, we'll plant the bomb and get out of here then blow this hell hole to kingdom come." "I'll be fine." Ty stated. Both women nodded and lead on with Ty following behind trying to keep his mind out of all the memories around them. _Like a fucking house of horrors_, Ty thought. There wasn't one word that could describe how Ty felt about this place, disgusted, disturbed, and angered were only barely touching the surface of it.

Thankfully they moved on and up a set of stairs into another room that had recordings of people from the facility, Ty listened from a distance watching out for more Varren or worse. He heard them talking about how they were experimenting on the other children for Subject Zeros, Jacks, safety something that contradicted what Jack had said but she was a kid being tortured and held away from all the kids by herself so how would she know that.

Jack wasn't happy about that but Shepard gave her some insightful words that seemed to help a little then they listened to another one about how the other kids started the riot another thing against Jacks memory but it made sense from her perspective that she'd remember it differently since it wasn't a happy time of her life she'd want to remember everyone being an enemy and being the one to start the riot that got her free. Ty was able to revisit memories but the painful ones like Ka'Reena being killed he remembered differently up to the point that Scrum reminded him of how it actually happened. He wanted Scrum to have agreed to it to make that taste of revenge much sweeter but he was wrong, Scrum had tried to stop them and so did Jason, did that make them good people? Not in the slightest since they helped capture her but some details should not be forgotten.

After hearing that they were going to piggy back on an Alliance project Jack and Shepard talked a bit longer and then they all moved forward down the set of stairs to find a fresh Varren kill, which was troubling since it had no bite marks and a bullet hole was leaking out blood. "Who the fuck shot that Varren, that's a fresh kill?" Jack asked in a bit of shock. Shepard looked over to Ty and asked "Ty you think you can see who did this without slipping into something worse?" Ty looked down at the Varren and tried to find the memory of it but the room behind it held memories that were stronger and it became harder to sense where each belonged, said "That room behind it holds memories." Ty stopped as he heard a feint cry from behind it, it wasn't real now but it still sent chills down his spine, "Dark memories…the one of the Varren is fresh but the energy behind it is somehow weaker than all the other memories here. Something isn't right." Ty said.

He could feel the energy of the memories but fresh ones were always stronger and even if what happened here had been evil the memories should have been faded, _the energies shouldn't be this strong,_ Ty thought. "This whole place is wrong." Shepard said with disgust. Ty shook his head and said "It's not just that…it's hard to explain because I still don't fully understand my abilities but it's like the memories were being reawakened by something recently." "Reawakened?" Jack asked. Ty nodded as he knelt down next to the Varren to examine it slightly, "Think of this in a more spiritual way, regardless of what you believe just attempt to follow along because I'm trying to figure out a good way to explain it. Think of all the kids who died, their memories lived on in this place and that kept their spirits stuck here but the memories became weaker and their spirits began to rest but then something happened bringing the spirits from their rest and awakening them all which in turn made the memories "wake up."" Ty said. "Like being haunted by ghosts?" Jack asked.

Ty shook his head as he stood up, he didn't intend for them her to take the spirit part in a literal sense, "No not like that, I'm just using the spiritual terms as a way to explain but I didn't mean it literally, think of it this way. You had a really shitty day ten years ago but ten years later the memory fades and you don't really think about it then one day someone brings it up and all those memories of that day flood your mind and it feels like just yesterday that it all happened." Ty explained.

Shepard looked at him thoughtfully then asked "So you're saying something or someone happened here recently and the memories, which you say have an imprint or energy, are "waking up" as you put it making them fresh again?" Ty nodded in response, "And if this thing got shot that someone is still here then." Jack stated. Ty nodded again, "Whoever it is has a history here and has been making the memories fresh somehow, I don't completely understand it myself or how it is possible but that's what it is like, or at least that is my deduction on it." Ty explained. "Do you still feel cold?" Shepard asked. "I feel like I'm freezing." Ty said. "Then let's get this over with." Shepard said.

The squad moved down the stairs and Ty suddenly smelt death, old decayed death but death nonetheless and sure enough he found the source as they entered a morgue. It was a big morgue with child sized gurneys and child sized spaces in the walls, some of the doors were open with the reek of death coming from them which was worse than a Krogan who hadn't bathed for days even after fighting in the muck, something Ty had smelt before from Kar and that was one of the worst smelling things he had ever smelt but this gave him an all time new terrible smell.

Even though the reek of death was terrible that wasn't the issue, the issue was all the Vorcha shooting at them from the sides and in front of them with some having flame throwers which wasn't good but also made for an easy target since they were slow and could only get you at short range. "Ty take cover behind that low wall and take out the flame throwers and anyone else who gets in your target reticule, Jack with me!" Shepard ordered. "Got it." "Yeah yeah." Ty and Jack responded. Ty got behind the low wall as he pulled out one pistol in his left hand and his special tomahawk in his right, he peeked over the cover looking for the tanks of the flamethrower and found it the Vorcha was standing behind a wall trying to not get shot by Shepard or Jack who were taking out the other Vorcha easily. Ty gripped the tomahawk tightly in his hand, it wasn't a clear shot but it didn't need to be with this tomahawk, "think the angle and throw" Darian had said so that's what Ty did he thought of the angle he would need it to fly and he threw it. Only one word came to mind after it left his hands and he saw what it did, "DAMN!" Ty exclaimed.

**Disclaimer: Probably should do this again since its been a while, I don't own the Mass Effect universe, I don't make profit from writing this and I only stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual universe. I'm just a nerdy fan. Thanks for reading, faving, following, reviewing, and sticking around this long, still far off from the end and if you liked Firewalker sorry for skipping out of being apart of it but all the other DLCs will have more substance to them. Thanks for reading, I'll see you next time!**


	34. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Crater of Freedom

The tomahawk sailed through the air and as it looked like it was going to keep flying straight it torqued and flew straight at the Vorcha with the flame thrower and hit his tanks setting off an explosion. The tomahawk went back into the holder and Ty pulled out his other pistol and started shooting the Vorcha's and though his mind was focused on killing Vorcha, which he had killed four more already, he couldn't help but still think about his tomahawk. It was like a boomerang but deadly and cooler not to mention that the kill would've been impossible to do if it weren't for the tomahawk being able to do what it did, his dad had a way of getting all the cool toys but this was his favorite of all the weapons his dad had ever gotten. "Did that thing just change direction in mid flight?" Shepard asked with a shocked but impressed tone.

After sliding into the new cover that was near the windows on the opposite side of the wall full of open and closed doors that were meant for dead bodies Ty ejected his thermal clips and loaded two new ones into his pistols before holstering them and grabbing his sniper rifle. Being the smartass he was he couldn't pass up the chance to act like he knew what he was talking about, "Yeah they did, you see they are coded to my nervous system and they pick up on my neurotransmitters. The grip holds the sensors for those and when I think the angle it picks up on that and when I toss it they follow that path I thought of and after they hit they basically biotic teleport themselves back into my holders." Ty answered. Ty popped out of cover and shot a new flamethrowers tank making it start to flame before exploding the unfortunate Vorcha that had the tanks, why anyone thought it a good idea to strap the tanks on their backs for a fight was beyond Ty, they just made easier targets.

Glass began shattering on Ty's side signaling enemies inside the room above him, "You have no idea what you just said do you?" Shepard asked with humor in her tone. "Nope not a clue." Ty responded as he put his sniper away and grabbed his pistols with his sights set on the balcony above. Both Jack and Shepard chuckled slightly with Jack being the first to comment, "So where'd you learn all those big words, I'm impressed you actually knew how to pronounce them." Jack snarked. Ty chuckled as he jumped up to a window and said "I'm just reiterating what Darian told me, not sure if I even got it all right but admit, you both thought I knew what I was talking about for a second." "Nah." "Nope." Jack and Shepard responded. "Bitter." Ty retorted as he pulled himself over and into the new room.

Ty was met by a Vorcha screaming at him but Ty shut him up quickly with a bullet to the face, he took cover behind the very small wall that he had as bullets impacted on the other side of the wall. Unfortunately for the Vorcha that thought it could catch him by surprise by moving up and popping around the corner with a scream Ty had been ready and met his screaming face with a bug uppercut slamming his mouth shut before he grabbed his shoulder and twisted him so his chest was facing forward and made him into an impromptu Vorcha-shield. "Let's see how well your friends like you." Ty snarked. "They kill you human!" The Vorcha yelled at him. Ty's grip on the Vorcha was strong and he made sure he had him by a pressure point as he pushed him forward and brought his pistol up, Ty fired a few rounds at the Vorcha who were in cover getting one in the back of the head and another in the shoulder.

With the new one dead that left four including the one Ty had as a shield and as he moved up further they began shooting at him and his shield, Ty pushed up quicker shooting over the Vorcha's shoulder hitting the one he got in the shoulder with a few shots to his chest as he came out of cover. A round pierced the Vorcha-shield and made the Vorcha stumble slightly but Ty kept his grip strong and forced him forward, as they passed one of the other Vorcha Ty shot him multiple times in the head and chest making sure he couldn't regenerate from it. The final Vorcha was only feet away when he shot the Vorcha-shield Ty had multiple times killing him and making him nearly fall down but Ty being in range and quick on his toes kicked the now dead Vorcha-shield into the Vorcha that had just shot him knocking both to the ground. Ty holstered his right pistol quickly and pulled out one of his regular tomahawks as he approached the downed Vorcha that was trying to get the dead weight of his comrade off of him, Ty impaled his tomahawk in-between the eyes of the Vorcha killing what he assumed was the last one up where he was_, why the hell are there Vorcha here they aren't that smart of a species in the first place and the only time they are organized are when they are with…the Bloodpack…Shit_.

Rounds began impacting around Ty bringing his attention from his thoughts to the actual final Vorcha that had been hiding well in the corner near the next window up from Ty. Ty pulled his tomahawk out of the Vorcha and he rolled forward closer to the Vorcha and in an attempt to dodge more rounds that the Vorcha fired as he thanked the Spirits that none of the Vorcha he had run into were great shots except the elite ones in the Bloodpack and these ones were far from elite. _"Like two legged Varren that didn't crap all over the place…usually" _was how Kar had described them to Ty when he asked about them being apart of the Bloodpack. Ty came out of his roll and the heat sink of the Predator pistol the Vorcha had been firing began to vent due to the lack of a thermal clip, luck seemed to be on Ty's side at the moment.

Ty made it quickly over the Vorcha jamming his tomahawk twice into its chest before swiping it upwards from its waist to its neck sending it stumbling back before Ty kicked him out the opening that led back to where Jack and Shepard were fighting. Seeing no more threat on the upper level Ty jumped through the window himself and as he landed he threw his tomahawk at the last Vorcha impaling it in the back of its head making it fall to the ground with a thud.

Ty walked over and grabbed his tomahawk as Shepard and Jack joined him, "Vorcha aren't this organized or smart in general so there's no way there here on their own since no matter what they'd find it wouldn't matter since they don't live long. They're just Varren with two legs and can kinda talk. We got Krogan here somewhere and that means Bloodpack but I don't understand why they would come here or know of this place, it doesn't add up." Ty stated. Shepard nodded slightly and said "Which supports your theory of someone who had been here when it was operational coming back." Ty nodded as he looked around slowly, Ty walked slowly towards the wall coffins as he tried to put the pieces of a puzzle together that he couldn't see, "Why come back?" Ty asked himself. Ty heard Jack snort slightly as she said "To blow this place to hell, if you've got a problem you can leave." Ty shook his head in response to Jack choosing to ignore the bitchy tone she had used, "I wasn't asking about you Jack." Ty said but stopped as he himself stopped a few feet from the wall.

There was no sensible reason for someone to come here with the Bloodpack, there was no salvage worth note which would be the only bargaining tool for them since a personal quest wouldn't cut it. Besides not knowing why someone would come back ghostly mirages of people loading children into the wall coffins appeared to Ty, _"More subjects from the failed tests?" One man asked. "Yeah, we're so close to finding out and Subject Zero's power is becoming immense." The other said. "It'll all be worth it in the end." The first said_. Ty wasn't sure which part pushed him over the edge between them talking like they weren't loading innocent children into the wall coffins and saying it was all worth it Ty felt knives plunge into his whole body and his hand grab his pistol as he began shooting the ghostly mirages of the Cerberus scientists.

The echo of the rounds he shot rang for a few more moments after Ty lowered his gun, Ty felt a hand rest on his shoulder making him look down and see the blue of his veins beginning to disappear from their bluer state, "It's okay Ty, they aren't hurting kids anymore." Shepard soothed. "They fucking were talking like they weren't loading kids into those god damned wall coffins." Ty seethed but felt himself calming down. "They're dead and we're here to blow this place to hell, will that grant you peace?" Jack asked with less of a bitchy tone but still in a snarking tone. Ty shook his head in response and said, "This isn't for my peace, it's for yours so make sure you're sure ask yourself that question." Ty turned toward Shepard to leave but Shepard stopped him by grabbing his arm, "You just changed like you did on Illium." Shepard stated as a question. "I felt it but I'm still me. That memory pissed me off but I didn't lose control." Ty responded. Shepard nodded and turned around to lead the squad out of the room.

They walked out of the morgue and killed two Vorcha that were guarding a downward stairwell, they went down and saw a bunch of rooms all the way down to the end on the left and right walls that usually would have been securely locked with kids in but now were completely opened up and wrecked with dried blood everywhere, muffled screams echoed in Ty's ears as they walked making him wish he had ear plugs despite it probably not doing anything to deafen the sound since they were all mental. "They kept kids in these rooms…what fucking scum and I don't say that about everybody." Ty said with an angered tone. "This is Cerberus at its finest for you." Shepard said in disgust. "I hate these fuckers so much; torturing children for the "betterment of humanity" is a bunch of fucking bullshit." Ty said. "Try living it everyday." Jack said flatly.

The conversation ended with that and they walked the rest of the way through the corridor and into a large room at first glance Ty didn't see anything mostly because he was trying to not slip into anymore memories or see more mirages. As he looked around again he saw three Krogans, the leader was talking to someone over a comm, and a bunch of Vorcha spread across a wide area. Ty pulled out his sniper rifle and asked "Want me to shoot?" Shepard motioned him to lower his gun slightly as she said, "Let me try talking first so we can find out what they are doing here."

Ty got a Vorcha in his sight as Shepard asked the lead Krogan what they were doing there but as Ty expected the Krogan didn't want to talk he wanted to fight and Ty fired the first shot headshotting a Vorcha. "Ty provide sniper cover, Jack with me." Shepard ordered. "Have fun." Jack said to Ty. Ty smirked but started counting all his enemies, three Krogan and seven Vorcha not including the one he killed already, Shepard and Jack had taken up cover in the middle between Ty's post and the other Krogan who was issuing orders to his troops. Ty mentally lined up three shots, two Vorcha in cover and a Krogan that was starting to advance, he took a deep breath and aimed at the first Vorcha whose head was barely visible behind a low wall, Ty shot and blood squirted into the air. He readjusted and shot the next Vorcha in the chest sending it flying backwards from the force of the bullet, he aimed at the Krogan and lined up his shot and smiled as he pulled the trigger.

The bullet impacted on the Krogan and it let out a scream, "Ouch right in the quad, sack tapping is bad news kids." Ty said as he looked up from his scope. "That isn't very nice Ty." Shepard shouted out. "They don't work anyway." Ty shouted back. The Krogan dropped the gun and fell onto his knees and Ty looked back into his scope and aimed at its head and shot, the Krogan made a thump on the ground as Ty aimed at the next targets seeing three Vorcha left and two Krogans still so he lined his shot up with a Vorcha but before he pulled the trigger Shepard shot it in the head with her pistol, "Kill stealer!" Ty yelled. "Sorry." Shepard laughed.

Seeing that the two Krogans were mobilizing now and the two Vorcha had disappeared Ty figured it was time to start pounding the Krogans with his sniper since Krogans were a pain to kill, Ty hit the side of his sniper ejecting the thermal clip and put another in so he had a full twelve shots to take out the Krogans. Before he could start shooting though he heard a distinctive sound, it was the sound of sneaking mixed with a Vorcha breathing heavily. Ty had enough time to look back and see the Vorcha trying to pounce him, as the Vorcha moved at him Ty put his sniper horizontally across his chest and pushed the Vorcha back as it tried grabbing him. "We kill you AHH!" The Vorcha yelled.

Apparently the Vorcha was able to sneak away as his fellow Vorcha's were decimated and sneak up on him, if it wasn't for a keen sense of hearing it could've ended before it started but now Ty was trying again to push the Vorcha back enough so he could be able to defend himself better. The Vorcha had his sniper gripped in its fingers and was in Ty's face again making an effort, while hissing and growling, to strip his gun from him and kill Ty, Ty struggled with the Vorcha and got slammed into the wall behind him by it. For a Vorcha he had some strength but the element of surprise is why he had so much leverage, that and the constant knees to the stomach that the Vorcha was dishing out wasn't helping. Ty took three knees to the gut in a row and then the Vorcha pushed him harder against the wall. Ty looked past the Vorcha and saw the lead Krogan on his perch shooting at Shepard and Jack since his brethren were all dead, feeling his inner Krogan come on Ty head-butted the Vorcha then followed it with a kick to the gut knocking it back far enough for him to start dishing out what he was receiving.

The Vorcha came back at him but it was met by the butt of Ty's sniper rifle clocking it in the right side of the head making the Vorcha stumble sideways, wielding his sniper like a bat with the barrel in his hands Ty followed the Vorcha and swung again clocking it in the left side of the head making it stumble back where it was originally. Ty nailed the Vorcha again in the center of the face knocking it back to the low barricade and as he wound up he said "The batter winds up for the hit annnnnd…" Ty smacked it as hard as he could in the face killing it and sending it flying over the barricade and down to the bottom area, "Home run!" Ty yelled as he raised his arms in victory. "Seriously Ty?" Shepard asked with a laugh.

The Krogan was still living as Ty hit his home run so he flipped the sniper in his hands and aimed the sniper down at the Krogan who was harassing Jack and Shepard who were both unloading their shotgun clips into it along with shockwaves and the tough bastard still wasn't going down. Ty got the shot lined up with the Krogans side and arm and shot hoping to get a heart or some important organ and its back up, the shot hit and knocked the Krogan off balance but also made it let out a scream that shook the room, "Nice job Ty its in a blood rage now." Jack said sarcastically. "Yeah 'cause it's totally my fault has nothing to do with your shotguns tearing him apart." Ty fired back. "Less talk more shooting you two." Shepard said as she unloaded two shots into the Krogan. "Fine." Ty and Jack said in unison which made both of them glance at each other with a smirk.

A pull field and a few rounds from all three of them later left the Krogan dead on the ground covered in its own blood, they left the room and as they headed out Jack told Shepard that whoever hired the Bloodpack was going to be in her room which was fine since she wanted to plant it there anyways so she was going to put it in his body. They walked onto a grated path and walked past a one way window with a mirror on their side, Ty instantly saw the young Jack beating her fists against the mirror and inwardly cringed at the memory, Jack seemed stunned as she looked at the mirror, "This side is a mirror, I used to bang and scream at the other kids…I always thought they were ignoring me." Jack said with what seemed to be shock.

It was screwed up that they let Jack see all the other kids, probably some sort of psychological torture to make her hate the other kids since they didn't know she was there and couldn't hear her. Ty shook his head as they continued walking and as they walked down the final hall Ty saw another blood smear on the wall and he saw another ghostly mirage get smeared by biotics against the wall, "First Cerberus kill?" Ty asked. Shepard and Jack looked back at him but Ty continued to examine the blood stain where the mirage had been, "Your powers are freaky sometimes Ty." Jack said. "Try living with them." Ty muttered only for himself to hear. He apparently succeeded in it since Jack was still looking for a response but Shepard seemed to have heard him judging on the sympathetic look, "Trust me I know." Ty said for Jack.

Jack nodded and Shepard turned reluctantly looking like she wanted to say something but choosing against it proceeding to the final doors where Jack's room had been. The hydraulic doors opened and all three walked in and Shepard called out to the person behind it all, Ty saw a balding guy stand up that he clearly could tell had some personal issues. A feeling of light headedness swooped over Ty as they stood there as ghostly mirages of Jack as a kid began appearing all around him, one hiding under the desk crying, another at the mirror banging her hands and screaming and another on the bed laying on her side curled in a ball.

Ty felt his feet stumble him towards a wall as he braced himself against it trying not to fall over or let the crying and screams from young Jack take up his entire mind, _get out!_ Ty yelled mentally to himself but it didn't stop, Ty felt the cold knives plunge into his already cold body as he felt his strength return in the form of a scream, "Get out of my fucking head!" Ty screamed out. He felt the explosions of energy inside of his body signaling his change but he felt in full control of himself, more so than he did on a regular basis, the screams and cries stopped and the mirages disappeared as he looked around the room.

As Ty scanned his surroundings he saw Jack pointing a gun at the guy which told Ty that he obviously had missed some important stuff, all three were staring at Ty, the man and Jack with confusion and Shepard with a mixture of concern and confusion, Ty looked down at his hands and saw that his veins were bluer than normal and bulged out along with his muscles. The palms of his hands had blue lines all across them which Ty had never seen since he usually either had blood covering his hands or a weapon of some sort in them, "It all had to be for something!" The man said as he waved his hand down with each word. _No there isn't an excuse in the universe for this_, Ty thought.

His thoughts seemed so clear and not clouded by anger as they usually would be or weighted down as they had been since arriving at this place, Ty continued to stare in awe at his arms and veins taking in for the first time what the change really looked like to him, he had seen it in mirrors and heard it described by those who had seen him in the state but his thoughts were so clouded that he never really took in what happened. He saw past his arms at a puddle of water on the ground so he knelt down next to it and looked at his reflection, "You lived it how can you think this was worth anything! Okay maybe some of the other kids had it worse then me but what you're trying to do is messed!" Jack stated angrily. "Nothing like this is worth repeating, all it does is destroy lives and in your case you let them succeed." Ty said out loud but really was more interested with his own reflection.

He brought a hand to his face as he saw his eyes more clearly, they were fully purple like everyone said but seeing it himself with a clear head was astonishing, he could still see where his pupils would be looking and the emotion behind his eyes despite them being only purple with no pupils. He was thankful there weren't bulging blue veins popping out of his forehead or cheeks but he could see a few light blue lines at the base of his neck leading down to his shoulders. _No wonder people always look at me and Z like we're the devil when they see us like this, _Ty thought. Despite being in awe at really noticing his transformation for the first time he was happy it was blocking out all the mirages and memories but he was brought from his astonishment when he heard the man's voice. The man seemed pissed at Ty's comment judging on the tone in his voice as he said, "I didn't let them do anything; they forced me just like the other kids!"

Ty looked up and when he spoke it was in the same tone as it was on Illium but calmer, "True I wont deny that but your using it as a crutch and a reason to inflict pain on others so you let them succeed, if you would focus the negative energy that they gave you into something positive like a program to help kids with biotics instead of forcing it then you would be giving those guys who did this a final fuck you." Ty said calmly. "You have no idea what pain that it caused us." The man spat. Ty chuckled slightly at the man's defense, "True I don't but I do know pain and I do know how it is to be so destroyed and torn apart on the inside that all you want to do is kill everything and force the pain that your feeling onto everyone else until you just want to kill yourself, I do know that much. If you become the evil you had to deal with your no better or different than them." Ty said.

Shepard had a bit of a stunned look on her face as she looked at Ty, Ty figured it was at his transformation and how calm he was since he himself was stunned about it but he was actually enjoying it slightly, his senses felt like they were in overdrive picking up the slightest sounds, body language movements, and smells in the room and slightly beyond for noises. Ty looked back down at the water swirled it around with his finger messing up the reflection of himself as Shepard got back in the conversation and started talking to Jack about what they were going to do which Jack answered to by walking over to the guy and hitting him with a biotic field then aiming her gun at him. Even though he wasn't one for stopping people from killing Ty decided he'd make the exception this once as he said "Jack I know I can't say much for not killing but killing him isn't going to be worth it in the end, all its going to do is make you cling onto the past." "He wants to start this place back up, he needs to die." Jack seethed. Shepard stepped forward and said, "He's never going to start this place back up, he's stuck in the past and will never change or do anything like this. You need to let go of your own past."

Jack stalled for as Ty awaited a gun shot but he was surprised by hearing her voice instead, "Fuck." Jack said in conflict. She lowered her gun and the guy stood up, she chased him off as she told him to go and he ran out of the room and out of sight, Ty listened for a few seconds making sure his footsteps continued to run and after a few moments of silence between the crew he said "He's gone." "It's not worth holding onto, none of it is." Jack said. "Ty why are you…like that?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled and said "Beats me I was hearing and seeing Jack bang against the mirror and under the desk here and it became overwhelming which is when I screamed, and this happened." Ty said as he motioned to himself then continued "It blocked it all out and I don't feel angry at all as I normally would, I guess it's good for something." "So you're not going to go chase Aresh down and kill him?" Shepard asked. Ty shook his head and said "Nope, don't know how I'm going to change back to normal yet but until we are out of here I don't want to." Jack looked around the room for a second then said "This was my room as a kid can you just give me a minute to look around at it all one last time?" Jack asked. "Take all the time you need Jack." Shepard said. Shepard and Jack started walking around the room talking about everything in the room as Ty followed behind a few steps and waited silently for them to finish and set the bomb.

Minutes Later

The sound of Jack opening and closing the detonator had filled the shuttle as they flew away from the Teltin facility, Ty was sitting on her left relaxing while Shepard had her arms crossed and looked a little stressed and Jack had emotional written on her face though Ty wasn't going to say anything about it. Ty's body suddenly began to relax as his body changed back to normal, the weight of all the memories on his mind did not return though making him wonder if they put all the memories to rest before leaving and blowing it up. _Hopefully they found peace_, Ty thought. Click, Clack, Click, Clack, Click, Clack, Click, Click. Ty looked up and Shepard slammed her hand against the shuttle door so the pilot would speed it up, Ty could hear the explosion in the distance but soon the shuttle started shaking and everyone lost their balance in their seats. Jack landed into Ty and sent him sliding across the seat and into the wall, Shepard was able to brace herself enough to not fall out of her seat but she did slide a bit.

The shuttle stopped shaking and Ty had sat himself up again and said "Damn that had to be one hell of an explosion." Shepard nodded and Jack stayed silent for the rest of the trip back onto the Normandy and for Ty it was weird to see Jack in such a sensitive emotional state and he hoped it would pass soon and she'd be back to her usual self because if she got all sensitive now he might as well start digging his own grave but it was Jack right, she'd be back to her usual calling him a dick self again, the crater wouldn't change her…right?


	35. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Tuchanka Bound

"Hey Mordin can we talk a minute?" Shepard asked as she walked into the tech lab. Mordin looked up from his terminal with a distressed look, "Shepard hoped you would stop by, I know mission is important but have personal favor to ask." Mordin answered her. Shepard walked in further so she was on the opposite side of the desk, she had heard from Kelly that Mordin wished to speak with her when she returned from Pragia with Ty and Jack but she had taken a shower and then took care of her fish and hamster that she named Vic which was her short version of Invictus. That had taken her a good thirty minutes but it had been six hours since they arrived and she was upset with herself that she had let the thought of Mordin needing help slip her mind but she had become engrossed in attempting to research anything on Ty's condition. All the things that she had witnessed inside the Teltin facility sent chills down her spine but seeing Ty looking like he was going to lose his sanity in that place had spurred her to try and find something about his powers.

She searched all across the extranet about Drell physiology and Asari physiology, she even dabbled into some research papers about the abilities of the human mind but aside from granting her new knowledge on theories on the mind and information about the Drell and Asari physiology she found nothing even close to Ty's abilities other than the similarities in the Drell and Asari that they all knew about. He and his brother weren't just rare cases, they were the only cases. It was at this realization that Shepard remembered her conversation with Miranda and Mordin hours before getting to Pragia, they were both hundred percent positive Ty was genetically built with Ty actually finding out about it and telling it to Miranda the day Shepard had been out cold from the memory wipe.

In her stubbornness to try and find more data she had forgotten that all three doctors were doing their best to research Ty's condition from the scans they had which led her down to the Tech Lab after reading a short dissertation about being able to access the full use of ones mind and what could be possible but it was all just theories and no one had any new answers on it, or none that had anything to do with Ty's abilities. "What's going on Mordin?" Shepard asked. "Know we are heading to Tuchanka to help Grunt but have received troubling news. Remember when we spoke about my work on Genophage modification project?" Mordin asked.

Shepard nodded in remembrance; she hadn't been to happy to learn that he had modified the Genophage after the Krogans begun to become more or less immune to the original Genophage. She had never agreed with the Genophage in general but her talks with Wrex hadn't done much to improve her opinion on it, "You aren't bringing this up for a history lesson, what's wrong Mordin?" Shepard asked. "Received word from STG contacts that Krogan Bloodpack have captured former colleague and protégé, Maelon and have him on Tuchanka." Mordin answered. That didn't sound good in the slightest, Shepard didn't agree with the Genophage but she knew if those Krogans knew or found out about the modification then Maelon would be more than likely tortured as gruesomely as possible before being stuck inside a Varren pit or a Thresher nest.

A shudder found its way across Shepard at the thought of a Thresher Maw but she didn't allow the thoughts of Akuze to cloud her mind by focusing on Mordin, "Do they know about him helping on the Genophage modification?" Shepard asked. "Unsure, STG very good at covering its tracks but very possible if they kidnapped Maelon." Mordin answered. Shepard nodded and said "Then we'll make this a priority and we'll ask the Krogan clan leader if he knows anything about this." Mordin nodded in thanks and said "Thank you Shepard, wish to see Maelon unharmed. You wished to speak about something else?" Mordin asked. "Have you found anything else on Ty and his abilities?" Shepard asked. "No, know that his main nervous system is human and one of the sub systems is Drell and another is Asari but cannot find any relevant data on fourth system. To find that system would answer all questions but have cross checked many species and have found no correlation with his." Mordin answered. Shepard shook her head in exasperation, "I understand how the Drell and Asari fit into his with seeing his own past in perfect clarity and being able to join his mind to others but to see all memories around him and feel their energy…I can't wrap my head around it, it still just doesn't seem possible." Shepard said.

Mordin nodded slightly as Shepard brought her hand to her head and ran her fingers through the top of her hair, another thought crossed Shepard's mind that she had been wondering since finding out that Ty had the Asari nervous system in him, "If he has the Asari nervous system, why doesn't he have biotics? All Asari have biotics." Shepard asked. "Wondered this myself, it could be possible that he has yet to awaken them and they might manifest in the years to come or because his human nervous system is the main control point they might not manifest unless he is exposed to Element Zero." Mordin explained.

Mordin pressed a few buttons on his terminal pulling up the diagram of Ty's nervous system again with his four alternating colors of green, red, yellow and blue starting alternate until Mordin stopped it on the red one, the unknown. "Another theory is that his "transformation" is the only state in which he could use them but, as I said, they have not manifested or he has yet to figure out how to use them. Or his transformation is a new form of abilities that have yet to form in any race except for Ty and his brother. Maybe they aren't even human, could be new race formed from the experiment and become a new ascendance of evolution where biotics have been surpassed by the normal senses becoming stronger and the reactions and movements of the body becoming faster than a normal reflex, like all his normal movements using the reflex arc."

Shepard nodded slightly since she was understanding what he meant but still feeling a little lost, a reflex arc is a neural pathway that controls an action reflex like looking over to your side to see a ball flying at your head and dodging it miraculously, the sensory neurons don't even use the brain to go through all this, they bypass it and synapse in the spinal cord activating spinal motor neurons without having to think about actually dodging it just making you do it. Shepard had learned some of this when learning about her biotics and studying more in-depth on human nervous systems the six hours before and in a way what Mordin was saying made a bit of sense with how Ty was when he was transformed.

Though Shepard had only seen it a few times the way he moved when he was transformed, the quickness, the way he seemed to be a few steps ahead mentally then he was physically all made it seem like everything he did was going through the reflex arc. "If under his…"transformation" all his natural movements are going through the reflex arc would he even be able to think straight, would he even have thoughts?" Shepard asked. Mordin nodded and began pacing, _here comes the science lesson_, Shepard thought. "Yes, it wouldn't disable thought pattern he would just be able to react quicker. His movements on Illium for instance, when the men surrounded him all of his attacks might not have been thought through, his attacks and movements might have felt like instinct to him like the human theory of the sixth sense." Mordin said.

Ty's abilities pushed the envelope of normalcy as it was but saying he had the sixth sense, Ty would likely call that bullshit. Shepard shook her head slightly at Mordin as she said "But Mordin-" Mordin raised a hand in interruption and said "These are theories Shepard, he is a scientific anomaly and I have thought of many theories but have found none that I fully believe are correct. If we ever find what this." Mordin pointed at the still red nervous system outline, "Is I may be able to find out why but until then theories continue to prove to be endless." Mordin stated.

That was slightly deflating but also contented Shepard, some of the theories were interesting and gave her something to research in her spare time when she wasn't reading one of her novels or planning one of the next missions. "You've given me some things to think about Mordin, I'll let you work." Shepard said. "Will be here if you need me." Mordin replied before going back to his terminal. Shepard left the Tech Lab and got into the elevator to go back to her room, as the elevator ascended Shepard looked up at the ceiling and asked "EDI can you hear me?" "Of course Shepard, my connection to the elevator has not been disabled since the last time you asked." EDI answered. Shepard chuckled at EDI's response and asked "What is Ty doing?" "He is in the process of working on a sniper rifle that I assume is for Garrus based on the designs he has painted onto it." EDI said. "He put a scarred mandible on it?" Shepard asked in a joking manor. "…That is not inaccurate." EDI answered. Shepard stifled her laugh and said "Okay, let me know when we're only a few hours away from Tuchanka." "Do you wish for me to direct all vital mission data to you and "let the rest of the crap wait until further notice" Shepard?" EDI asked. The doors of the elevator opened allowing Shepard to exit as she let out a laugh and said "You got it EDI."

* * *

After getting back on the Normandy from Pragia Ty decided to work on the guns he had set out while Shepard and Jack went to do whatever they were going to do, instead of making more than one trip up and down the slow elevator Ty took off all his gear and set them to the side while he worked. The Teltin facility did a number on his mind and all he wanted to do was relax and forget about the stuff that had gone on down there, he wasn't sure why his demon just faded as they were leaving the facility but he wasn't entirely complaining since that meant he wasn't stuck looking like a blue veined freak with purple eyes.

He took the time to clean the guns while he was attempting to clear his mind of all the things he saw and heard inside the Teltin facility, seeing the memories play out and hearing the screams wasn't something he ever wanted to hear or see again. It was all just a reminder of how screwed up Cerberus was and gave him another reason to see the organization burn eventually, it was an ideal so that was going to be impossible to get rid of since other groups like Terra Firma held similar if not the same beliefs and were likely working together behind the scenes but having the Illusive Man's glowy eyed head on a platter would be good enough for Ty and would send Cerberus into a huge disarray until a new leader showed up.

The plans for killing the Illusive Man were on the back burner for now until they were done with the Collectors and possibly the Reapers, Ty hated himself for thinking it but Cerberus could be a huge ally for the war if the Illusive Man kept his shit straight and worked with Shepard. Even if they gave him the finger when they were done he'd have to be stupid not to want to kill the Reapers and help Shepard do it, but then again it was the Illusive Man and he was a egomaniacal psychopath who would likely find some way to screw them all. Ty put those thoughts to the side and picked the Viper rifle to work on first and at the moment he had on the breather part of mask as he was painting the Viper sniper. The barrel was going to be an iridescent black with a blue shine and the base area of the gun which would usually be white was going to be Garrus's markings giving it a more personal touch but the base color was a metallic black and the markings were a dark blue. On the left side for the engraving he put Reaper Killer and on the right Garrus "Archangel" Vakarian. On the front before the metal barrel Ty added two pieces of metal which he was now painting over that looked like mandibles to add to the look of it being like a Turians face with Ty coloring it the same iridescent black with blue that the barrel had but the mandible on the right Ty scraped it a little to give it the look of scarring. The good things about the mandibles were they didn't add too much weight, they didn't get in the way of it folding up, they looked cool, and lastly it could work as a bipod which would be handy. For ammo he was going to put in armor piercing rounds to add an extra punch since the Scions and some of the other people they were fighting had some major armor that made it a pain to deal with but he hadn't reached that yet his painting was taking time.

As he was doing the blue markings there was a beep on the terminal next to him informing him someone was trying to contact him, Ty pressed the button to let it come through and said "This is Ty's suicide hotline if you have any complaints please do us a favor and pull the trigger." "Geez never putting you in charge of that." Joker said sarcastically. Ty chuckled to himself; he bet it was a hard job. "Hey Joker, why you calling on the private line? Something going on?" Ty asked. "Not really just giving you some heads ups that you're just going to love." Joker said with more sarcasm. Ty stopped spraying and let his breather mask retract as he asked "The Illusive dick want another ass ripping?" "No, at least not that I know of, first off that holo and recording you had EDI take of you, me and Miranda is waiting for you up here." Joker said. Ty had actually forgotten about that but was wondering how it turned out, "Well that's probably the best news out of it all I guess, what's the rest?" Ty asked. "We're headed to Tuchanka in the Krogan DMZ to help out our resident Krogan and Salarian by talking to the Urdnot clan leader who I'm sure is a swell guy, we'll probably be there in three days so you'll have plenty of time to work on more guns and prepare yourself for the head-butting contest of all time." Joker said.

Ty smiled at the joke and thought, _I guess he doesn't know its Wrex, I'm sure he'll be happy to see me…maybe._ "The last thing I'll let the talking toaster tell you, I gotta start flying." Joker said. "See ya Joker." Ty said. "See ya." Joker responded. As the terminal shut down EDIs blue hologram popped up in front of him, "Hey EDI how you doing?" Ty asked. If she could nod Ty assumed she would have, "I'm well, how is the sniper for Garrus coming along?" EDI asked. "How'd you know it was for him?" Ty asked with a smirk wondering if it was the markings or the scar. "I scanned the blue markings on the rifle and compared it to Garrus's and it was almost a complete match, well done. Plus the extra parts you added to look like a Turians mandibles made it easy to figure out since we do only have one Turian and he is the only one with scars on the right side of his face that you or I know." EDI answered.

Ty smiled and gave a slight nod at her to acknowledge the compliment in her words, though he was surprised that she assumed correctly that he only knew one person with the bad scars Garrus had but not many people got blasted by a gunship missile, or impaled on walls. "How are you? You were distressed on Pragia multiple times and Shepard explained in short what had happened." EDI asked. He had been able to lock most of the memories away and he hoped none would ever resurface for his own sake of not wanting to remember the things Cerberus had done, the cold feeling had left a few minutes after the nuke had gone off and for that Ty was thankful. "I'm good right now gonna finish this up then head back to my room for the night I think and either catch some rest or be visited by Shepard again if she decides to visit." Ty said. "How are you two?" EDI asked.

EDI was the only person on the ship that actually knew about Shepard and Ty talking to one another and what they discussed due to her being apart of the ship so Ty nodded in response and answered, "Good, never thought I'd actually say that about me and someone in the Alliance but Shepard has a way of making the impossible happen. She's a great friend and I trust her fully, the only difference between now and if you asked a few days ago would be that me and her talked about us being more than friends." "Do you question her judgment?" EDI asked. Ty couldn't help but chuckle before he said "I question both of our sanity daily with the usual shit we do but now I'm questioning it even more. Maybe it's because we're both stubborn enough not to let anything get in our way but she seems to think that something is possible between us other than friendship…and I'm starting to think it might be as well but I still think we are both bat shit crazy for even considering it, then again no one ever fell in love without taking a chance or a risk of some sort but…I don't know we'll see, anyway what's the news you got for me?" Ty asked. "Jack would like to talk to you when you have the chance." EDI answered.

_That is…odd. Never thought she'd take me up on my offer of being someone to talk to,_ Ty thought. Ty raised an eyebrow and asked "Any idea what about or if it's in person or not?" "I do not know, she seemed fine when she talked to Shepard but she seems…different." EDI said. That they both could agree on, Jack was a tough woman that was a definite but every tough façade fell eventually. "I don't doubt that I mean look at what happened to me after I saved Haley and killed Scrum, got more of a lock on my bad temper and I'm actually having more fun." Ty said. "Yes you did change but you changed back towards your normal self based on what you have said and what I heard from your family while they were on board. Jacks emotional state has seemed to change drastically with what happened on Pragia. I do not wish to incite anger but organic emotional states seem very…fragile." EDI said. Ty started putting his gear on and said "They are on most; there are some people though who don't feel anything like the Illusive man." _And some people who just fed off of agony and pain, _Ty thought remembering Tarak for a moment. "Do artificial intelligences fall under that category?" EDI asked. Ty smiled to himself and said "No not in the least bit, well except for the Reapers they do. I believe your race can get past the organic non-organic barrier if we organics would try to understand your race like you try to understand ours, look at you and me and how far we've come. The time will come when become apart of the galactic society and there will be peace without any of us losing something for it to happen."

EDI was quiet for a few seconds as Ty finished putting his gear on then she said "You are a very positive person Ty, thank you for having faith in me." "You're welcome, though Ka'Reena was a Quarian she actually believed peace could be achieved between the Quarians and the Geth and they could live peacefully together and achieve much more working together so it kinda rubbed off on me even though I never was racist towards ." "Thank you." EDI said. "And to you as well EDI, I'm going to call Jack so I don't just go barging down there without permission, be sure to continue giving Joker a hard time for me." "Logging you out Ty." EDI said then disappeared.

Ty popped up the terminal and called Jacks room, "Who the fuck is it." Jack answered. "The sarcastic asshole downstairs." Ty answered back. "Oh the fucker was able to stop playing with his toys and talk." Jack said sarcastically. Ty chuckled and retorted, "As I was designing the toys I was thinking of all the ways they could be used to kill people then I thought "oh hey maybe the psychotic biotic upstairs wants to talk."" Ty heard Jack laugh a little then her side went dead, Ty waited a few seconds waiting to see if it actually went dead or she was waiting for him to continue talking, Jack was still silent so Ty asked curiously "Hey Jack you alright? EDI mentioned you wanted to talk." "You mind coming up here to talk just in case the cheerleader or someone else is listening?" Jack asked. "Sure see ya in a minute." Ty said. "Yea." Jack said.

The line went dead and Ty walked over to the elevator and took it up to the Engineering deck, as it ascended he couldn't help but notice the difference in Jacks voice when she asked him to come up there, it was probably true about Miranda and anyone else listening to them but her voice didn't have the usual toughness to it or hostility towards Cerberus which confirmed what EDI had said and made him very cautious. It could just be a little paranoia but he was preparing himself for whatever she wanted to talk about.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened letting him get out and walk through the door and down the stairs to Jacks hidey hole, as he got to the bottom he saw Jack sitting on the table she had in there with a look of contemplation and an emotion Ty couldn't place. "Hey Jack what's up." Ty said. "Hey." Jack said. Ty got further in the room and said "You look deep in thought about something, trying to think of ways to kill the princess?" Jack barked out a laugh and said "Nah I already thought that through." Ty chuckled in response but figured the conversation wasn't going to go anywhere without him asking questions so he said "You know I never thought I'd see you show someone mercy, especially that Aresh guy." "You and Shepard showed me how he could be me and I'm not going to be carrying that crater around with me." Jack said confidently.

Ty nodded and paced a little, it was good she wasn't going to be carrying that place with her anymore, the nightmares that place caused needed and were wiped from the Universe and they would remain that way if Ty, Jack and Shepard never thought about it. Ty stopped pacing and said "That's good carrying the past sucks and is a waste of good energy, the sooner you can understand what happened in the past and use it to make yourself stronger as you move on through life without holding onto it, the sooner you'll live life happily…Not that I've been a good example of that." Jack smiled and said "Listen to you get all fucking philosophical." Ty shrugged and said "Hey what can I say; I've learned how things can scar someone and how it is to carry your past with you every moment of your life non-stop. I'm just trying to help you understand what I'm learning. The past is the past you can't change it and pissing and moaning about it just drains the life out of you, you gotta remember what good you had and use the bad to make you a stronger person." Ty said.

Jack gave a slight nod, Ty would never forget what the Suns took from him but he couldn't continue down the path he had treaded, life had become miserable and a self inflicted hell day in and day out. His time on the Normandy was becoming a good reminder of a motto he tried teaching his squad, _live every day like it is your last god damn moment on this side of the Universe, create memories with your loved ones and never be dragged down by the past._ He hadn't lived by the motto for eight years but he wasn't going to continue like that, it was far past time of moving forward. "Yea maybe but some shit fucks with you for a long time like losing something important, shit you know what that's like." Jack said solemnly. Ty nodded and said "True I do and I lived my own hell for eight years straight with a few good moments but after killing Scrum…I guess you can say I've done some soul searching and decided I can't keep down the path I was. I won't ever forget my friends or Ka'Reena but…I'm only twenty three Jack and though life expectancy is low for this mission and afterwards if I have a long life I want to make sure it's a damn good life not one where I'm sulking in my sorrows for the rest of my days thinking that my early teenage years were my glory days and the rest of life will suck." Jack chuckled slightly and said "Yea that would be pretty lame of you to do."

That made Ty smirk, he couldn't imagine now spending the rest of his days staring at a picture or looking at the memories of his friends or Ka'Reena wishing his own life to end so he could join them, he had to live on for them and make his life memorable like they would have wanted, they didn't want him to off himself, they'd probably kick his ass in the Spirit realm for that. Ty looked at Jack thoughtfully, he felt that he knew her well but he still felt that he was missing something, the Teltin facility was an eye opener and so was the mind joining they had when they visited her past but there was more to her arms distance approach to people. "Aside from everything at Pragia you must've had more shit happen to you to shut yourself out to people, feel like sharing?" Ty asked. "What Cerberus fucking with me couldn't have been enough?" Jack asked with some agitation.

Ty shrugged and walked towards her cot, maybe he crossed a line but they had talk about some very personal things of his past so he figured fair was fair, "Sure it could've been I was just saying that maybe there was more to it but if I'm stepping past my boundaries I wont bother you with my thoughts I was just making some conversation trying to get to know you better." Ty said. Jack looked at him with bewilderment, "Why do you try being friendly but you don't try getting in my pants?" Jack asked getting off the table and walking over to him. _Oh well fuck me didn't think this through, I guess that's a norm,_ Ty thought. "Does that bother you?" Ty asked. _Not the best response dumbass,_ Ty thought. "Why if I say yes you'll fuck me so you don't hurt my feelings well I got news for you I don't nee-" Ty put his hand over her mouth stopping her from talking and trying to stop digging his own grave though he figured it was a poor attempt.

The two stared daggers into one another though Ty was unsure why he was having to take on her deadly glare with his own, it was just a question that she could've deflected. Ty stood there with his hand covering her mouth for a few seconds looking at her with a stern look and said "Jack you need to calm the fuck down. I don't know what the fuck happened to you all through the years after being stuck in that prison but you obviously think that everyone is trying to use you for something so I got news for you, I'm trying to be a good friend not get in your pants. I don't know why you wanted to talk maybe you just wanted to bitch at someone or punch me or whatever but if you want to talk then talk to me about what is bothering you or whatever you wanted to talk about. I'm not here to use you and I'm not here to fuck you so take your strap on off and tell me what you wanted to talk about."

Ty removed his hand and crossed his arms and waited for Jacks recoil good or bad, "Fuck you." Jack said. Ty shrugged and waited for her to start talking, she walked away and leaned forward against the table she had originally been sitting on, "Just fucking leave." Jack said. _Like that'll happen,_ Ty thought. "No that's what you want and expect me to do and I aint going anywhere, even if I can't actually help I'm still going to try." Ty said. "You can't fucking change what happened you're just wasting your time until you find out that everything you're doing won't change a fucking thing and you'll leave like every other motherfucker." Jack said with what sounded like sadness.

Jack stood facing away from him with her head bowed down looking at the table until Ty walked over to her side and said "I might not be able to change your past or fix anything with conversation but that's not going to stop me from being your friend. You need a friend Jack and not one who's going to try to use you." There was silence after Ty said that and he did what he said he was going to do, he sat himself on the table and waited until she'd realize he really wasn't going anywhere.

There was ten minutes of silence and the two just staying where they were at a stalemate, if there was one thing in Ty's favor it was that he could out stubborn anyone except his brother and dad, and likely Shepard depending on the subject. He was one of the most stubborn people he knew and Jack, like others, would figure that out the hard way, when you can visit your own past or just enjoy the silence of the room allowing you to think about anything and everything there wasn't much the other person could do to beat you in stubbornness. Jack finally spoke up, "Fine I'll fucking talk you fucking stubborn persistent shit. There was this guy who was with me for a while and we got separated on a mission and he had a choice either leave with the loot or stay behind to give me time to escape, the idiot stayed behind to let me escape." Jack started. _Maybe this wasn't a good idea, is there a rewind button to stop myself from doing this, Spirits any help here? No? Fine I'll deal with it but next time stop me, better yet just show up and warn me…right you don't intervene with us unless you feel like it,_ Ty thought. "He had a recording on the ship in case he didn't check in and it told me that he was sorry and told me that he loved me and wanted to settle down with me get a house and have kids." Jack looked away from Ty still staring a hole into the table as she said in a choked up voice "Fucking idiot should've just taken the loot and left me." _Fuck me and my stubbornness_, Ty thought.

The cat was officially out of the bag, survivor's guilt mixed with everything else that ever happened to her. To say he understood would be half false, he did feel survivor's guilt for his friends who were killed in the explosion but he couldn't say that his loved one stayed behind to let him escape and died for him, Ka'Reena was murdered because of him not died for him, and his guys were just plainly murdered. So with no advice coming to mind and the only thought of _fuck me_ constantly replaying over and over in his own mind and with no words of comfort that could make it any better he did what he figured was either a really bad or really good idea. He got on his feet, not a good start to which Jack said "I told you that you'd leave fucking prick." Ty grabbed her arm and turned her to face him as he said, "Who said I was leaving."

She tried to look away but Ty saw the tears rolling down her face and said "Bring it in Jack." Ty pulled her into a hug which she tried to resist not knowing what he was doing at first but after more than a few seconds of resisting she gave in letting herself be hugged until she finally gave in completely and gave him a hug back and not a half ass hug an actual full hug. They stood there for a little while holding each other, he was right once in that whole conversation, she really needed a friend who wasn't looking to use her. After a few more moments of silence Ty let go of her and she did the same, she wiped her tears away starting to put her toughness back on and Ty said "Feel a little better now." Jacks voice had a choked and a caring tone as she said "You're a fucking asshole." A smile found its way to her face and Ty smiled and said "I know I've heard that a lot, I know you don't like letting anyone get close to you but I'm not going to stop trying until either you stop fighting the fact that I'm going to be someone you refer to as your good friend or until you kill me for trying."

Jack nodded a little still showing her softer side and said "I know…sorry for snapping on you…it's just…I'm not used to someone being…" Jack stopped having trouble trying to find the words to say. Ty knowing which words would fit interjected "There for you or a using piece of shit." Jack nodded and Ty said "Don't worry about it; I wouldn't have let you fuck it up." "You could've ended up dead by doing that." Jack said. Ty smirked and said "You may be a biotic god but I'm an escape artist. Its late I need to go get a little sleep and you should do the same but remember if you need to talk to me-" Jack punched him in his left arm hard and said "I know where to find you dick, I'll be fine and we'll talk more another time."

Ty nodded at her and as she walked to her cot and as he neared the stairs she said "And remember if you tell anyone about me having a weak moment I'll rip your spine out your ass with my biotics, got it." Ty smiled to himself and said "Got it Jack, see ya later." He got up the stairs and into the elevator and pressed the crew quarters button, it ascended slowly and when it arrived he stepped out and walked to his room to un-arm himself and call it a night since it was late already.

He walked into his room and immediately he knew someone had been fishing around which only meant one person, Kasumi. His picture and holo had shifted on the nightstand a little and one of his drawers was slightly open which he was one hundred percent positive was closed when he left earlier, "So much for being a stealthy thief even a child could notice someone was snooping around, she must be out of practice or something." Ty tested. "I most certainly am not." Kasumi's voice chimed. Ty smirked and Kasumi's cloak came off revealing her sitting on the edge of his bed, Ty shook his head and rolled his eyes at her, "You're looking in the wrong places if you're looking for credits or guns." "If I wanted a gun I'd look under your pillow where you keep your extra pistol with a heat sink that allows you to discharge twenty one shots in three round bursts before you have to unload the thermal clip and is never folded up so you can shoot as you pull it out." Kasumi said in a cheery manor with a smile. "Um stalker much." Ty joked.

Kasumi rolled her eyes with a smile and said "Please I have better things to do then stalk you, besides I'm already looking at Jacob." Ty shook his head as he gave a slight laugh and said "Like I said stalker, why you looking around in my room Kasumi it's not exactly a cash cow." "Well I was checking out that picture and holo because Shepard told me about it and I wanted to see for myself then I was looking around to see if you had anything else hidden." Kasumi said in a care free tone. "You ever here of privacy Kasumi, oh wait thief almost forgot." Ty joked. Kasumi smiled and stood up then said "Only if you would so I could steal your stash of money, I'm going to borrow a few of those Serrice Ice Brandy's and some of the other alcohol that's down there to stock up my lounge, some of the guys look like they could use a drink from time to time. Your doing good with Jack Ty keep it up and date Shepard already for gods sake you two would be good for each other."

Kasumi took her exit leaving Ty surprised with her knowledge at first and then leaving him smiling and shaking his head at her spying as he started taking his gear off. She probably used the tunnels that led through the Normandy to move around quickly. He got all his weapons off and adjusted the picture and holo back to their original place and shut the drawer completely, after a long day of dealing with the memories of a nightmare factory down on Pragia Ty was happy to finally lay down on his bed since he decided he'd go grab the holo and picture of Joker and Miranda in the morning or at some point in time tomorrow. Despite all the bad stuff that had happened he considered the day a good day, not only did they blow up a Cerberus facility that needed to be wiped out but he had Tali's support for the upgrades on the Normandy, he was getting closer to being done with Garrus's new rifle and Jack didn't rip his head off. It was all the makings of a good day.

The Next Day

Ty had gotten up early and showered but left his room without his gear since he figured he wouldn't be on any mission today, he headed up to the CIC first and greeted Kelly as he walked by, "Hey there." Kelly greeted. Ty nodded in greeting and said "Hey Kelly, how are you doing?" "I'm good just a little worried about Grunt in the Port Cargo. Shepard keeps assuring me he won't rip out a bulkhead but I'm just a little worried about him." Kelly answered. Ty chuckled and said "Sounds like more than a little, don't worry about him he's just being a Krogan. Once we reach Tuchanka he'll be fine…still Grunt but not how he's acting." Kelly smile and said in a joking tone, "Not all of us have the expertise that you do with Krogans." Ty chuckled in response and said "Yeah no one I know is stupid enough to do two head-butting contests in one life and still want to do a third for shits and giggles." "Sometimes I worry about you Ty." Kelly said with a smile. "Hell I worry about me sometimes Kelly; I prefer not to think about what I'm going to do next so I can be just as surprised as all of you when I do the next crazy thing. Maybe I'll be riding a Kakliosaur into battle next." Ty joked.

Kelly raised an eyebrow in question obviously having no idea what a Kakliosaur was so Ty let out a sigh and said "They were ridden by Krogans a long time ago, extinct now. I forgot that no one really knows much about them." "I see, I take it your Krogan friend told you about them?" Kelly asked. Ty nodded and said "Yeah, he was drunk off his ass one time…well actually he did that often but I always supplied him with Ryncol so I guess it is my own fault. Anyway he attempted to make up this story and joke about the Krogans riding a bunch of Kakliosaur's on the Salarian homeworld, I say attempted because from there it was a lot of gibberish and he often forgot the things he already talked about until finally he ended it by saying "I really wished I cooked that Salarian liver, I had indigestion for weeks after that." Not sure why but we all laughed pretty hard at that, I think it was because of how drunk he was that made it funny."

To Ty's surprise Kelly began smiling as he was actually trying to remember why they all ended up laughing, "You sure make interesting friends Ty." Kelly said with a smile. "What does that say about all of you on the Normandy?" Ty joked. Kelly smiled bigger and said "I'm not sure but as soon as I find out I'll let you know." Ty nodded with a smirk and said "I'll see you later Kelly." "Take care." Kelly responded. Ty headed to the cockpit to get the holo and recording and hang out with Joker for a little while. As he approached the cockpit he heard Joker and EDI as usual bantering with each other, "What do you mean we have to stop in the next system for probes? I thought we stocked up after we left Pragia?" Joker asked in exasperation. "We were supposed to but you insisted on getting them later because you said "the Commander could live without probing a bunch of planets for a day" which is how she gets resources to upgrade the Normandy and the crew for the Collectors Mr. Moreau." EDI answered in a scolding mother tone. "Arghhh damn her and her probing, every time she does that you have to always repeat that the probe is launched, why couldn't they have put another Mako on so I could relax in peace." Joker said in an agitated tone. "If you would have just gotten them yesterday you wouldn't have to stop the Normandy today." EDI stated.

The banter was funny from Ty's perspective but as he got behind them he did his best impersonation of a commanding officer as he said "Commander on deck!" "You know if it was an Alliance ship and if Shepard was a hard ass about that stuff I'd actually be worried but since no one seems to tell me when Shepard's standing behind me just spying on me and no one has ever done that for her due to her asking them not to I know you're full of crap." Joker said. "Geez you seem like such a downer today." Ty fired back. Joker looked back with a disbelieving look as he responded with slight agitation, "Really." "Yeah really, be happy you get to make a quick stop and relax for a little while before we head to the Krogan DMZ and hit Tuchanka." Ty said. "As long as Mr. Moreau does his job correctly we won't have to "hit" Tuchanka." EDI stated. Ty sensed the sarcasm from her and couldn't help but smile, "Oh I swear I'm going to cut its circuits today so it is on permanent mute." Joker said. "Don't get to upset Joker you might get a stress fracture or something and then we'll be stranded for a while or worse your rival will get to fly the ship." Ty said motioning to EDI. "Oh hell no it's not going to take control of my baby." Joker said in a protective manor.

Ty sat himself down in the seat next to Joker as he smiled at his protectiveness, as he looked at the controls he reached to touch a button as he said "Hey what does this one do." Joker looked over and slapped him in the hand and said "Don't touch that button; actually don't touch any of the buttons unless you want to be flying inverted over a Batarian planet trying to keep up foreign relations." Ty retracted his hand quickly and rubbed it and said "Geez you could've just said that instead of slapping me." "If your going to hang out up here the rules are don't touch the controls and don't backseat drive, flying this isn't like flying that little thing you call a space bike, there's a lot more to it then press a button here and have the A.I. do the rest." Joker said. "Isn't that what you do?" Ty asked with a smile. "Shut up." Joker said flatly.

_Victory once again ah it never gets old_, Ty thought as he smirked to himself. A few minutes of just listening to the hum of the Normandy went by then Ty asked "So how'd that holo and recording turn out?" Joker laughed a little and EDI said "The quality of both the holo and recording are very good but I do not think Miss Lawson will approve of making copies of it." "Yeah but since when has Ty listened to what "Miss Lawson" approves of." Joker said. "I hear that." Ty said as he reached over to Joker for a high five which Joker gave him. "I already have a holo of it yours are somewhere over by the ship cancer and I don't know if Miranda wants a copy of it but if she does your giving it to her because that wont be good for my already fragile life expectancy." Joker said. "Let's find out, EDI can you set up a comm between up here and Miranda for me?" Ty asked. "Yes Ty setting it up now." EDI answered.

Joker looked at Ty with a knowing smirk and said "You're going to ruin her whole day." Ty shrugged with a smile and said "Come on would I do that." "Yeah you would." Joker said as he looked back at the ships controls. "This is Miranda what do you need Joker?" Miranda's voice came over the comm. Ty smirked and projected his voice loud enough so she could hear him as he said "Not Joker princess its little ol me, you busy 'cause I got a question for you?"

There was a sigh and then Miranda said "Great. What is it?" "You remember when you were being stubborn about working on Shepard since she went out like a light and I had thrown you over my shoulder and I had EDI take a holo and recording of it?" Ty asked. She seemed to whisper some curses that sounded like they were aimed at him then she said "I was really hoping you had forgotten about that." "To be honest I kinda did but anyways so we got an extra holo up here and I wanted to know if you wanted it, Joker has his and I got mine do you want a copy?" Ty asked. "No." Miranda said flatly.

_Well she's no fun, might as well try to have some fun with her though,_ "Come on Miranda you know you want a copy, it's a great picture of us all and there won't be another time where that happens." "No." Miranda said again. "Come on Miranda if you don't take who am I to give it too, Garrus? Jacob? Mordin? Shepard? Donnelly? It just doesn't seem right to leave a perfectly good holo just sitting arou-" Miranda's Australian voice came over loud and agitated as she said "If you give that to anyone I swear I will rip you in half with my biotics, you are pushing your luck Ty and if you keep pushing I will kill you!"

_Uh…shit did I seriously just piss her off with a joke?_ Ty thought. Looks of surprise crossed both Ty's and Joker's face, Ty was surprised at how quick she snapped and how serious she sounded not like the night they took the picture where he knew she wouldn't, she seemed determined that she would this time, "Whoa calm down Miranda I was just joking no need to get pissed off at a joke. I'll drop it off to your room so you can destroy it with your biotics or what ever you plan on doing to it." Ty said. "Whatever." Miranda said. "Sorry for pissing you off and probably ruining your day I was just trying to have a little fun with you Miranda, trying to keep the mood light with everyone you know but sorry for causing an issue." Ty said sincerely. Miranda groaned a little at herself as she said "I know." There was silence then she said in a less agitated voice "…Listen I'm dealing with some issues right now and I just don't need the extra bullshit alright." "Okay I'll try not to cause you more bullshit so you don't try to rip my head off since that just doesn't sound like fun right now." Ty said jokingly.

There was a slight chuckle and Ty knew she was cooling off then she said "Thanks…and sorry for snapping." "Sorry for causing bullshit, see ya later Miranda." Ty said. "See ya Ty." Miranda said. EDI shut the comm off and Joker gave a critical whistle then he said "If that was anyone else they would've been dead." Ty nodded and EDI asked "Do you think she would've actually tried to kill you Ty?" Ty nodded again and said "Yea she definitely would've reached through that comm and killed me if she could have. Those words were a promise not a threat, there was venom in each word but thankfully I was able to calm her down a little 'cause if I kept pushing yours truly would be dead or trying to get off the Normandy." "I see." EDI said. "Shepard would've saved your ass from her wrath she has a habit of jumping into a suicide mission for her friends." Joker said. Ty nodded absently and thought, _Not even Shepard could've stopped that wrath, I hope we get to Tuchanka and get out quickly before Miranda explodes on someone and if I don't step lightly around her it's going to be on me._

**A/N: Invictus means unconquered in Latin in case you didn't know, thought it made sense for Shepard and was kind of funny for a hamster to be called that. Also the reflex arc is real, not sure if everyone knows about it so thought I'd make sure I let you all know I'm not pulling this crap out of my ass. Thanks for reading I'll see you next time.**


	36. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

People Skills

Two days had gone by since Miranda nearly ripped Ty's head off through the comm, he had hung out that day with Joker a little longer then took the two holos and recording with him downstairs where he delivered one holo to Miranda, who looked very stressed, and left quickly then dropped his off in his room and set them next to his other picture and set the holo on permanent on mode so anyone could see it all times. He took the rest of that day to meditate in his room and relax since he didn't feel like working on the guns and there wasn't much to do for him aside from talk to others. It was a very uneventful remaining of the day but that wasn't a bad thing he needed a few uneventful days to rest and recover some of his energy he used on the missions, that and to relax from the stunts he pulled. He liked to balance his own craziness with a little normalcy here and there.

The next day was uneventful again for him but for Jacob, Kasumi and Shepard it was an eventful day since after finally stopping in a near system to get probes there was an anomaly found and Shepard took them down to a Blue Suns mining base which Ty gave them a little more information on since he knew of it. He finished off Garrus's sniper rifle and was waiting to give it to him for when he saw him next and started working on Jacks Carnifix hand cannon along with putting aside a Scimitar assault shotgun to customize for Jacob. They rarely saw each other and even more rarely spoke to each other but it didn't feel right to outfit everyone else and leave him excluded even if Ty thought he was sort of weird and sometimes casted distrustful glances at him, _probably because of the Illusive Man,_ Ty thought.

He hadn't gotten very far on Jacks gun when she somehow miraculously snuck up on him and slugged him hard in the back of his left shoulder, Ty couldn't figure out how she accomplished sneaking up on him but he had been in deep thought about the gun and what to do with it so that was likely the reason, or at least that was his excuse. She had a good laugh about it and they talked some more about random subjects mostly him and his crew and some of the stupid stuff they got into and then some serious talk about the Collectors and Shepard being able to pull through, they both agreed the Collectors were going to die by their hands and that they were both going to be loyal to Shepard to the end.

Hearing Jack talk about her loyalty to Shepard was odd, it wasn't a surprise that she was loyal but as far as Ty could tell through all their talks about the people she had been around through her life up until now she wasn't one to cast her loyalty card to anyone but herself but here she was ready to go into the Collectors pit of hell with the squad. It hadn't seemed likely she'd ever come to believe in Shepard as some of the crew had due to her past but then again it hadn't seemed likely for Ty to become as loyal as he was to Shepard. Hell they both had made it clear when they joined saying that they were in for the ride and were cutting loose afterwards and neither had planned to get attached to any of the crew aside from fighting along side them. Maybe Ty should have thought harder on it or maybe he was just to stubborn to realize it back when he joined but there was no such thing as fighting along someone and not forming some kind of bond with them, friendship or rivalry.

Shepard was a leader at heart and no matter if Jack and Ty attempted to not form bonds with the squad they would have bonded with Shepard the way they had no matter what. Ty wasn't sure what it was about the woman that made it that way, maybe her good heart created a sort of indoctrination effect on all those she considered friends to make them to want to follow her into the deepest pits of hell and back, Ty doubted that she could control minds otherwise the Council and the Alliance would have their heads out of their asses but he figured a more likely conclusion. People like Shepard were rare and those that existed in time were followed to the ends of the Universe by their allies regardless of the odds or how big the threat was.

Maybe she was the Universes savior, maybe the Spirits of all the races that fell chose her as their warrior to bring an end to the Reapers or maybe she was just the right person at the right time with the right charisma and right attitude in the right job. There was no certainty with any of that and there would never be a correct answer only an answer to those who decided to interpret it in their own ways and that was fine but all Ty knew was that she was a damned good friend and no matter what happened he'd follow her to the end, unless she somehow became the exact opposite of who she was, joined Cerberus fully and then decided to try to kill him or his family, that would put a sour note on it all. That conversation ended and lead to Jack talking a little more about her history and some of the fun stuff she got into before this mission but it soon ended when the shuttle came flying back in and Jack put her barriers back up.

Shepard stopped by and shared a few words with the both of them then headed up top to get Joker back on track to Tuchanka, as Shepard, Jacob and Kasumi left in the elevator back to their quarters Jack asked Ty if he thought Shepard was a girls club girl because she seemed to like to talk to Jack a lot which Ty smirked and asked her if she was a girls club girl which earned him a punch in the left arm and a fuck you from Jack. Ty told her no eventually after milking the joke a little longer saying that Shepard was just a friendly person and thought of her crew as a family, a dysfunctional family who liked to give each other hard times and liked to fight on battlefields for some reason but a family nonetheless, Jack called them both weird, Shepard for being as she was and Ty for describing the squad the way he did which made Ty chuckle.

They talked a little longer with Jack bringing up Ty showing her his past and he answered some of her questions about it like the locations of some of the memories since some were in different colonies and she jokingly asked about the sex which Ty couldn't pass up for shock value and a good laugh so he made his own joke by going deep into fake details about whips and chains and other kinky things until Jack hit him to stop since she was laughing so hard about it and calling him a sick kinky fucker.

She eventually left and Ty had lost all desire to continue work on the gun for the night so he headed back up and stopped in by Chakwas to talk a little more with her just to be friendly then he headed back to his room for the night and meditated for a while then went to sleep. It was the next day now though and he had woken up early since he wasn't tired and got ready after a shower then headed down to the cargo hold again to continue on Jacks pistol hoping to get some work done this time. He had a great idea for her pistol before he fell asleep but had lacked the desire to go back down and work on it at the time so he was making up for it now. Ty used his ability to see the past to see her tattoos and picked the most colorful parts and was going to paint it onto the gun which was going to take a long time for him to do to get it perfect.

He decided on the engravings, The Psychotic Biotic, on the left side and, "I"LL THROW YOU LIKE A TOY!" –Jack, on the right side which he thought was good and hoped she didn't end up throwing him like a toy for it in an attempt to be funny but he figured she'd be fine with it. He had switched the music back to his 21st century rock station and let it run with it blasting out the Cargo Hold and likely the Engineering Deck and Jack which might have made him smirk slightly. He had been painting the first layer of the design for two hours when his omni-tool popped up randomly signaling he had a call, he turned his music off and took his mask off as he answered "This is Ty's porno palace we got your best selection of alien porn may I recommend the Asari porno Matriarchs Gone Wild." "No thanks do you have any suggestions for a Turian and human porno?" Z asked. Ty chuckled and responded, "Well I suggest you go down the hall and ask Jessica for some private tapes but otherwise we don't sell that here." "Damn this store blows." Z said. "If you would like to learn more about the blowing section of our store I suggest you go out and actually get laid and stop wasting your money." Ty joked. "Touché." Z responded with a chuckle.

Ty sat himself down on a crate and asked "So what's up?" "Figured I'd check in with you see what was up with you since I don't see you to often anymore because of this mission." Z answered. Ty felt the same pang of home sickness that his brother was feeling in wishing Ty wasn't on this mission, he missed his family and seeing them every day and he hadn't spent much time with them in the last few years with the whole Blue Suns hunting and now he was on a suicide mission. He needed to keep in touch with them if this was truly going to be the end, "Touché back at you, just working on a new gun for Jack designing it after her tattoos and putting some engravings on it. Finished Garrus's Viper yesterday and Grunts Avenger a while back otherwise went on a mission with Shepard a few days ago for Jack to help her blow up the facility Cerberus kept her in as a kid then just hanging around trying to keep everyone on the bright side." Ty said.

Z chuckled in response to which Ty assumed was because they blew up a Cerberus facility which likely reminded him of that space station he had accidently dropped on top of a different Cerberus facility, _good times,_ Ty thought. "Sounds like you've taken up the responsibilities of having friends in a crew by trying to keep them less stressed." Z said. Ty chuckled and responded, "I can't help it, with how this mission is laid out the crew doesn't need to be at each others throats going into hell." "Yeah I know, you're a natural leader Ty whether you like to admit it or not, still trying to figure where you got that from 'cause it sure wasn't me and my lonerness." Z stated. Ty shook his head and rolled his eyes as he said "And it's your fault whether you like to admit it or not, you were a leader to me and I took after you." "Eh details…So how you like your new tomahawks?" Z asked.

To say he was completely stoked out of his mind was an utter understatement and Ty didn't like using the word stoked to describe anything unless he happened to think it was the grooviest thing on the planet. "Bad fucking ass Z, you should give up that Katana for something like these." Ty said with a smile. "Fuck no my Katana is more bad ass than those besides I researching new tech for it." Z retorted. "No way, I'd take these over that any day, what are you going to do if your out of ammo and the people are at a distance? You can't throw it like a javelin without them seeing you do it." Ty argued. "No Ty." Z stated. "Come on you know you want to talk about this." Ty retorted with a smirk. Z let out an exasperated sigh, "We are not having the "You're gonna talk about the shotgun" conversation again but have it be about our choice of weapons. I saw those guys the other day still fucking debating about what weapons they want, and he still is talking about the shotgun" Z scolded shooting him down. "Damn you." Ty joked.

Z laughed on the other side but then he stopped and said "I know Shepard is, well Shepard I guess." Ty chuckled and jumped in, "Oh you mean top of the Alliance N7, first human Spectre and reaper killer in her spare time." Ty stated. "Yeah that, anyway you're still watching out for everyone including her and yourself right?" "Got my eyes on everyone's back and my own, oh by the way the Illusive Man has weirder eyes then us." Ty said. It was quiet for a few seconds but then Z came back, "You met that bastard?" Z asked. Ty snorted and said "Please if I did I would have added "and he's dead" onto that, the Normandy has a QEC and I had to talk to the Illusive Man since I may or may not have hacked Cerberus files since he was stonewalling Miranda and I may or may not have transferred part of EDI to my space bike and omni-tool." "So she's stalking us right now?" Z asked. "Incorrect I cannot "stalk" as the word is intended but I could listen in if I felt the need." EDI answered over the comm. "EDI." Ty chided. "I felt obligated to answer." EDI said. "By stalking." Z responded with a chuckle. "You make the assumption that I was not invited into this conversation." EDI said with what Ty could swear was a humorous tone.

Z began laughing slightly as Ty shook his head, "My name was mentioned Ty." EDI said. "Yes it was, can you let us believe we have a sense of privacy for the remaining conversation EDI?" Ty asked. "As you wish Ty." EDI answered. "I like her." Z said with a chuckle. "Thank you." EDI responded. "EDI." Ty chided again. "Sorry, false sense of privacy mode activated." EDI responded in what Ty knew was a sarcastic tone. "Your fault." Z said before Ty could respond. "I take full blame for her becoming funny. Anyway the Illusive Man threated our lives after the mission is over and wants Miranda to kill me then he's going after home base." Ty said.

Silence ensued for a few moments with Z obviously thinking over what Ty said, Z didn't like Cerberus in general, well he actually hated them but the threat not only against Ty but their home base was sure to get him thinking of ways to find secret Cerberus bases and blow them up on purpose. "No shit and how does he expect to find us when the fucking Shadow Broker has no idea where we are and he's been trying to find us for years." Z said. Ty chuckled, the Shadow Broker agents never got very far and Ty and Z had a fair share of messages sent back to the Shadow Broker in the form of dead agents with data-pads on them or with the words "Fuck off" carved into them depending on the viciousness either brother was feeling at the moment.

The Shadow Broker was even more pissed at Ty right now though after helping Liara and Feron with their mission and he still hadn't found them. "I know that's what I said but he was all "don't underestimate Cerberus" and some other bullshit, got to rip him a new ass though that was fun." Ty said with a smirk. Z chuckled and said "Damn nice job, you think we should move home base?" Ty sighed and said "I don't know, we've been fine there but if we move we might be moving into a place that can be found easier you know. Run it by daddy the best plan of action is something he'll think of. We got the home field advantage if they come knocking and that things got more guns then a Krogan army but still we gotta be careful we aren't untouchable, we do go out in the open all the time." Ty said.

His brother was silent for a few seconds thinking about what he had said then he finally said "I'll run it by daddy but the Illusive ass is stupid if he thinks he's untouchable. You think Miranda would actually kill you?" Z asked. Ty shrugged to himself and said "Dunno depends on the day, the original day when I ripped him a new ass he wanted her to kill me but he withdrew the order and later on she told me she didn't think she could do it but she could've just been lying you never know. Then two days ago she nearly ripped my head off through a comm link about a joke so like I said depends on the day." "Well if she tries or does I will personally kill her." Z said. "Aw and here I thought you had a crush on her." Ty joked.

Z barked out a laugh which Ty immediately read as a cover but was going to let his brother think he had him fooled, the two rarely lied to each other and only did when they were trying to protect the other or if it was something extremely personal that they didn't want to talk about it but being as close as they were to one another they couldn't lie without the other knowing that it was a lie, it was as helpful as a hint to not talk about it as it was a pain in the ass when you knew they knew you were lying. "Crush, fuck no not how she is now all Cerberus bitch an all but she is great eye candy, one of those you should look and never touch kind of women you know." _Lies,_ Ty thought. "Maybe she'll change and see that she's working for a bunch of fucked up assholes but if she doesn't then like you said look don't touch." Ty said going along with it. "You gonna get any action on that ship, honestly you got some women on their right?" Z asked in an attempt to change the subject. "I'm not starving for sex Z but as for women there are more than a few but only seven I know by name and eight including Doctor Chakwas." Ty said.

Z chuckled and Ty sensed the joke before it came, "You and her should totally hook up, older women need loving to you know." Z joked. Ty chuckled and said, "Not it. Anyway there's Shepard, Jack, Miranda, Tali, Kasumi, an engineer named Daniels and a woman named Kelly Chambers are the women I know to a degree." Ty said. "Well you gonna try to get with one of them?" Z asked. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Ty joked. "Yea that's why I'm asking." Z said. "Well take Miranda off she's more interested in you and I'm just trying to get her to be who she is under all that Cerberus bullshit, Tali's like a sister and I doubt she has those feelings for me, Kasumi had Keiji but he died and now she's mourning him and having her eyes set on a guy named Jacob on this ship and I wouldn't consider it anyways just because I enjoy our friendship. Daniels no, Chambers no." Ty said.

There was a whistle from his brother then he said "So you either gonna get with Jack who you'd be with for life unless you want to die or ruin the friendship or Shepard who is part of the people who hunt us, not bad not bad." "Well Shepard has feelings for me, don't really know how strong but she wants me to think about giving her a chance and Jack I think might have feelings but hasn't said anything about it but I'm trying to be her friend because of all the shit she's been through. She needs a good friend and not one who wants to use her for sex and if I did I would be, like you said, with her for life which isn't bad." Ty said. "But isn't who you want to spend the rest of your life with because eventually it would end up either being just about sex, being friends or hating each other." Z finished. "Yea that." Ty responded. "What do you think of Shepard?" Z asked.

Ty let out a deep sigh then said "Difficult to even think about because if I do date her and it somehow got public her Alliance career is over because of me, otherwise though she's fun to be around has a certain spunk to her and is a very caring person. We get along great and she wants to try it but not only does the different side of the law thing weigh on my mind but her old flame Kaiden might still be in this." "If he's in the game why she flirting with you?" Z asked. "Because I'm great eye candy." Ty joked. Z laughed a little then said "Right anyway maybe he's not in the game anymore if that's what's holding you back then ask unless Ka'Reena is still weighing on you as well." Z said. _Yea….that_, Ty thought. "You know me so well." Ty said forcing a smile. "I should I'm your brother…she wanted you to move on Ty and I know its hard for you because of what it was but she's gone Ty you can't hold onto the past forever you've gotta move forward." Z said. "I know I'm trying to but there are so many memories with her and those never leave me and I don't doubt that me and Shepard might be able to make it work but I really don't like the idea of traveling the hurting highway twice since she wants more than blowing off steam." Ty said. "The memories of Ka'Reena shouldn't leave you, Ty moving forward doesn't mean you have to forget everything that you felt with her, that was true love at its finest so take what you felt from it and put it into another relationship. You'll never know if Shepard is the right woman until you give her a chance and if you never do you'll regret it just as much as Ka'Reena."

He was right about the last part, maybe it was time to give Shepard a shot and if it didn't work then it didn't work, the elevator doors opened and Z said "That or go to Aria or that one Turian you were with, both really dig you, well the Turian did I don't know about anymore since neither of us have seen her since you two were together which was Spirits know how long ago." Ty chuckled and said "Shut up." "Hey I'm just sayin'." Z said with a laugh. Shepard, Mordin, and Garrus walked out and Ty said "Hey Shepard just came down with Garrus and Mordin armed to the teeth and I gotta give Garrus his new gun so I'll talk to you later alright." Ty said. "Yea that's fine I'll tell everyone you love them, love you Ty stay safe." Z said. "You stay safe, love you bye." Ty said.

Ty shut the comm and hopped off the crate and said "Hey Garrus I got you a present." All three looked over at him and Ty grabbed the sniper off the ground in its folded state and Garrus said "Aw you got me a new sniper, you are so thoughtful." Ty smirked and got over to them and said "I know, give me your old one and try this one out real quick." Garrus handed Ty his sniper and Ty gave Garrus the new one, Garrus unfolded it and started checking it out, "Paint job is after your face, scarred up the right mandible just for you but the mandibles can be used as a bipod for those good sniping times. The dial on the right side can switch between regular ammo and Tungsten ammo that can pound through just about any armor even a Goliath Geth if you ever end up going against one of those on foot, which I hope you don't."

Garrus looked across the room through the scope and Ty said "Scope can adjust to see a very long distance, a lot further then your previous one but I can't give you a specific length just know that any target you can see will always most likely be in the kill zone. And a little thing I added myself if you press the button below the dial it gives you the amount of kills and misses you have from anytime you pull the trigger so try to have more kills then misses Garrus."

Garrus's mandibles adjusted as he smiled and said "I never miss." "That's not what Shepard told me." Ty said with a smirk. Shepard was surprised to be dragged into the conversation judging on the look on her face and the tone in her voice as she asked "What?" "You told him about that." Garrus said going with the joke. Shepard put her hands up a little and said "Whoa back up I didn't say anything about anything you did Garrus." "She also told me you and her had a one night stand." Ty joked. "What!" Shepard yelped in shocked. "I thought that was our little secret Shepard." Garrus said with a toothy grin.

Shepard blushed a deep red even though they all knew it was a joke since it never happened but she still seemed embarrassed so Ty took the attention off her and back to the gun as he said "Oh and one more thing about the sniper Garrus I hope you never have to use it but the bipod is not dull, I sharpened them to be as sharp as my tomahawks and it can be used as a bayonet or a slashing weapon to fend off enemies like the Husks or anything that rush you." Garrus folded it up and put it on the magnetic holder on his back and said "Thanks Ty." Ty looked at Mordin and asked "Hey Mordin what would you prefer a pistol or a sub machine gun?"

Mordin grabbed his chin and said "Hmm interesting question, my Carnifix is very useful and doesn't need any new adjustments aside from the ones I have given it already but my Tempest argh that needs some work. Would appreciate it if you were able to get me a better one otherwise make do with what I have." Ty nodded and said "You got it." Shepard had recovered from the previous conversation and said "Okay you two go load up on the shuttle we're heading down to the surface of Tuchanka."

Garrus and Mordin walked away but Shepard stayed behind and Ty asked "You need me to do something Shepard?" "Two things, first off I want you ready to go when I get back you're coming down with me and Grunt to help him out since he asked to bring you along. Second see if you can get Miranda to release some frustration." That was an odd request but Ty nodded slightly, Shepard shook her slightly as she said "She's nearly about to blow on someone." "Yeah she already threatened to rip me in half with her biotics." Ty stated. Shepard ran a hand through her hair and said "Well that might complicate you helping her. We're handling two missions today so we can get her to Illium." Shepard said. "Why not bring her down to Tuchanka to release frustration?" Ty asked. "Because I need your help for whatever we have to do with Grunt to make it as quick as possible since we need to get back to Illium to help Miranda." Shepard said.

Ty nodded and Shepard put a hand on his shoulder and said "I know it's a big favor since she's on edge but it's either you or no one since she won't go talk to Chambers. I need your unique…people skills for the lack of a better word to get her a little more level headed so she doesn't kill one of the crew. Will you be fine with her and going on another mission so soon?" Shepard asked. Ty smirked and said "Please Shepard think of who you're talking to I used to hunt and fight for days at time with less luxury than this. I'll think of something that doesn't end in my death or damage to the ship." Shepard smiled and said "Thanks Ty…have you been thinking about-" Ty cut her off and said "Yeah we'll talk after the missions are done, you need to go help Mordin out get his head straight and I'll handle the princess." Shepard nodded and said "Good luck." She let her hand drop and Ty said "You're gonna need it more than I do, see ya later." She jogged to the shuttle and Ty walked to the elevator so he could go grab his gear and Miranda to help her release frustration, he had an idea to help but he didn't know if she would be up for it or if he would be able to walk away from it with both his halves intact.

**A/N: Hey just popping in to let all you readers know that I'll likely not be posting anything else this week since I'll be with family for thanksgiving weekend but if I get the chance I will attempt to post another chapter. Have a great week and I'll see you next time.**


	37. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Frustration Release

The elevator ascended to the crew quarters and the doors opened letting Ty get out and walk to his room to get his gear real quick so he'd be ready when Shepard got back. As he got in his room and to his counter of gear he called out to EDI "Hey EDI I need a quick favor." Ty didn't see if EDIs hologram popped up but he did hear her synthesized voice "Yes Ty what can I do for you." "Can you get me a comm link to Jack and tell her it's me?" Ty asked. "One moment." EDI answered. Ty heard the distinct sound of her hologram disappearing then as he finished getting his pistol holders and all his tomahawk holders on Jacks voice echoed in his room "What do you need dick?" Jack asked. "Nice to hear from you too sugar plum." Ty said with a lot of sarcasm. "Are you fucking serious! Sugar plum?!" Jack shouted. "I thought it matched, you don't like it?" Ty asked while trying not to laugh. "Oh you are so lucky I'm actually beginning to like having you around." Jack said. "Actually beginning? Come on Jack I thought we had something going here, anyway on a serious note you mind doing me a big favor?" Ty asked. "No way in hell am I helping you do those guns, you're on your own for that one dick." Jack answered. Ty smiled and said "Wasn't going to ask you to help with that, the favor actually requires really nothing from you except to stay out of the cargo hold until I give you an all clear." "You working on some explosives?" Jack asked.

_I wish I need to get my hands on some boom booms I miss being the one shooting the explosives,_ Ty thought. "I wish but no, Shepard wants me to get the princess out of her bitch mood so I'm going to try and get her down there." Ty said. "Did you tell Shepard that's just her permanent attitude and it's never going to change on the cheerleader." Jack stated. _Wonder how that would've worked, actually that probably wouldn't have been good to do_, Ty thought. "No didn't have much of a choice since I guess my unique "people skills" as Shepard put it are the only thing that will ease her up a bit until we got off Tuchanka, so you mind staying away until the princess is gone so I don't have a death fight between you two while Shepard's gone?" Ty asked. "Yeah sure fine I'll stay away so I don't biotically rip her in half on your watch." Jack said.

Ty put the remainder or his gear on and sarcastically said "Thanks Jack you're such a sweetheart." "Shut up dick, later." Jack said then shut the comm off. Ty turned around as EDI popped up and said "The comm was shut off." "I know, thanks for the help EDI I'll talk to you later." Ty said. "Logging you out Ty." EDI said then disappeared. Ty left his room and walked around the corner and down the hall to Miranda's office, he got to the doors and they opened revealing Miranda with an extremely frustrated look on her face as she was rubbing her temples as she looked at her table. She glanced up and saw Ty then shook her head and looked back down at the table still rubbing her temples as she asked in a flat tone, "What can I do for you Ty?" _Geez she really needs to lighten up some,_ Ty thought. "Thought we'd hang out." Ty jokingly said. Miranda scowled but still didn't look at him and said "I'm busy." "I can tell you missed that joke completely, you seriously need to get off that terminal and come with me down to the cargo hold to release frustration." Ty said. "I've got other ways to vent then going down there with you." Miranda said. _Apparently you need new ones,_ Ty thought. "Yeah and those seem to be working so well." Ty said with heavy sarcasm.

That got Miranda's gaze to fixate on him, to a weaker willed person they might have caved at the knees and attempted to back out but it really didn't faze Ty, "You know Miranda I thought you would have remember what I said when we first met through interrogation but I'll repeat it for you, I've dealt with murderers and psychopaths, your stare doesn't intimidate me." Ty restated. Miranda shook her head and began shuffling data-pads on her desk, Ty put his hand on the next data-pad she was going to grab stopping her momentarily as he said, "Come on Miranda I'm not that bad, I mean honestly you can say that I'm good at helping people release their frustration." Ty said. Miranda tugged the data-pad from under his hand with a glare as she said in an agitated tone, "Yeah you usually just screwed them to do that, I'll pass." _I most certainly have no- wait no that did happen once but it was just once that shouldn't count and not like she would know of that one time. I guess I should've just seen that dig coming,_ Ty thought. "Ouch that hurt Miranda. Do you seriously think that's what I was going to try? I would've picked a classier place then the cargo hold to try that since I got standards I hold up to. I've got the perfect plan and I know you'll enjoy it and feel a little better afterwards." Ty said. Miranda gave him a really look through her death stare, Ty rolled his eyes and used his most fake professional tone as he said, "I promise it won't put you in any predicament that would compromise your job as the XO for Shepard or complicate anything between us or the crew and I also promise you'll feel less stressed afterwards. You know I don't break promises."

Miranda stared at him a little longer then let out an exasperated sigh and said "Fine but you better be right." _Mission accomplished,_ Ty thought. He smirked and couldn't resist mimicking her as he said "I'm always right aren't I, oh if you don't want to get physical on the Normandy in that cat suit then you should change and no we aren't lifting stuff I'll explain when we get down there." "I'll be fine in this unless you have a problem with that." Miranda said but Ty could hear the underlying fuck you behind it. Ty shrugged as he began walking and said "Just offering I mean you seem to wear that all day and all night and its spandex so its obviously tight I was just saying maybe you wanted to wear something loose and let you hair down a little bit, figuratively speaking."

Miranda didn't say anything to him after that they just walked to the elevator and got in, Ty hit the cargo hold button and the elevator started to descend. "Why are you armed?" Miranda asked to break the silence since the elevator was going slow as usual. "Grunt wants me to go for whatever it is he has to do when Shepard takes him down to Tuchanka so Shepard wants me armed and ready to go when they get back with Mordin." Ty said. "Any idea what is causing his erratic behavior?" Miranda asked. "He's just being Krogan." Ty responded. Miranda gave him the look that everyone he had said that to so far had given him, it was the look of "what does that mean?" but there was no answer aside from that as far as Ty knew it was just what it was, a Krogan being a Krogan. The elevator stopped and the doors opened letting them both get out and walk out into the large room, Ty took all his gear off and set it on the table where he usually worked then started pushing some of the crates across the room to get some open space and create an arena of a sort. As he finished Miranda was looking around at the make shift arena with an uncertain look on her face as she asked "What was your plan now?" "You ever spar hand to hand with someone without protective gear?" Ty asked. Miranda nodded slightly and Ty continued "Good 'cause that's what we are doing."

It seemed to catch Miranda off guard but she began to shake her head no and said "That's a bad idea." "How do you know we haven't even tried to do it yet, only rules are no extreme full contact hits to the face and for you no biotics except for pushes, I can take those." Ty said. "We don't need fighting in the crew." Miranda said flatly. Ty rolled his eyes, _what a lame excuse,_ Ty thought. "Really that's the best excuse you got? If it gets to rough we'll stop or if I hurt you we'll stop." "What if I hurt you?" Miranda asked. _There's the opening I needed, when in doubt attack the ego, _Ty thought. "I doubt that will happen, come on Cerberus had to teach you some hand to hand combat and we all know I'm good at close quarters fighting so lets see what you got." Ty said.

Miranda contemplated her decision for a moment but then she began to walk into the arena Ty made but she didn't look like she was getting ready to fight though Ty was prepared for any strike coming since that was the easiest feint to do. Ty watched her body language and waited for the foot plant or something of that manner to show her attack but instead of a physical identifier to tell him she was about to attack he saw a blue hue begin to form around her hand and if he hadn't begun to sidestep he was sure he would've been sent flying with a broken jaw or a concussion. Miranda sprung her attack nearly hitting him in the face with a biotic fueled punch but as it came at him Ty dodged around her and made her swing at thin air.

She recovered at inhuman speeds but seeing as they were both genetically created they were going to be faster than most with reaction times, she went for another strike since Ty wasn't ready for her quick reaction time so she closed the short gap between them and attempted to strike with her knee but Ty swiftly dodged it and got around her giving her a slight push making her stumble forward as he taunted "Is that it, is that all the Illusive mans prize possession can conjure up? Two strikes then get ambushed from behind? I'm nearly positive you trained better; you forced yourself to be better right? Daddy's little science experiment doesn't seem to be doing very well." Miranda snarled at the taunt and closed the distance between them even quicker than before and went for three more quick strikes but even though they were quick her frustration level was getting in the way of her actual fighting ability and Ty blocked and dodged them easily and had to fight back a sigh of boredom.

Ty was able to get behind her again and give her a slight push again as she caught herself he put up his index finger as a one and said "Okay first off if we are going to spar correctly you gotta focus because at this rate I'll be bored before you get pissed off so badly that you'll want to kill me." Ty raised his middle finger making a two and continued "Secondly to my firstly, the only person aside from me that can gain focus from anger is my brother and since you lack his neon green eyes and you don't have either of our sparkling personalities that means you don't focus when you are angry so getting angry is counterproductive for you. You gotta relax and let your training come natural and thirdly and I can't stress it enough try to have some fun." "You are such a bloody asshole!" Miranda said her accent really coming out in her anger. Ty scratched the back of head as he said "Why does everyone seem to think I need the reminder of that, I really don't need the reminder. Come on stop trying to hit me and hit me."

Instead of waiting for her to attack he went on the attack to put her on enough defense so her instincts would take over, he wasn't full force punching or kicking but he was able to get her a few times before her instincts started to take over against his simple strikes. She blocked a few then got his arms out of the way for a second letting her nail him in the chest with both her palms knocking him back a few steps, before he could remark on it she was on the attack now making him actually have to try and dodge it all, as he dodged punches and blocked them he said "There you go now its coming back and here I thought I was going to be fighting with myself between pissing you off to want to attack me or just saying fuck it and punching you as hard as I could to make you fight me." "Shut up." Miranda growled.

Ty was met with the heel of her boot hitting him in the chest making him stumble back and grab at his stomach where it hit, _that's why she wears those damn things,_ Ty thought, _fuck that actually hurt_. Ty found himself smirking as he said "Good good you actually made me feel pain but it's my turn." Miranda had closed the distance while he was talking which was unfortunate for her, Ty feinted a punch making her attempt to dodge the punch that was never coming allowing him to sweep her legs out from under her and plant a boot on her stomach, "Why did that happen?" Ty asked with a smirk. "I am going to kick your ass!" Miranda yelled as she attempted to get his boot off of her which wasn't working at all. "Wrong, that happened because, well I'll spare you the technical explanation since I'm just agitating you at this point, that happened because I'm damn good and you thought for some crazy reason you had me on the defense permanently and that you actually had a chance. Crazy right?" Ty asked goading her.

What came next he had coming but he didn't see it coming, Miranda growled as she hit him with a biotic orb that suddenly lifted him up and then slammed him down into the ground. Instead of questioning how he ended up on his chest face down Ty rolled himself onto his back and kipped up just as Miranda was attempting to stamp on his back and likely rub his own comment in his face. "Good one but don't go one hundred percent yet save that for later this is just the beginning." Ty said. She retorted by hitting him in the stomach with a strong right but then she followed by grabbing and twist his right arm back towards him wrenching it a little but it didn't last long because Ty flipped himself in the direction his arm was facing making her lose her grip and opening her up for an attack which he took continuing what was to be a long battle.

An Hour in a Half later

The sparring had gotten intense but in a good way, or as good as beating on each other can be. It became like an actual fight except they weren't trying to kill each other or hurt each other or at least Ty wasn't Miranda had used her biotics more than a few times to throw a crate at him which he'd have to dodge very quickly. Through the intensity though Ty's eyes had turned completely purple and his veins did their usual transformation though he hadn't realized it until Miranda asked him during the fight about it worried that she had severely pissed him off. He wasn't even near being angry he was actually enjoying himself being nearly reminiscent of his days with his brother when they were younger and training and pushing each other to be better fighters just without the biotics Miranda had so a bit of a mixture between his brother and him training and Darian and Ty sparring. He assumed it was just his mind being at a peak of focus that he normally didn't attain unless he was extremely pissed or meditating but the fight seemed to get his mind going so he didn't mind it.

He wasn't sure why his body transformed now and back on Pragia without taking his mind to the point of no return like it used to but maybe this new occurrence was a good thing or just a warning of a big blow out about to happen, he couldn't be certain. This was good training for him as much as it was a stress release for Miranda so he couldn't complain but he'd have to ask his brother about this new occurrence, he'd know since he had more experience with it all.

They were both huffing and puffing and balls of sweat with soaked heads of hair which was an abnormal look for Miranda always having her hair perfect. Whether it being perfect was natural or her spending hours in front of a mirror he didn't know but it didn't matter at the moment since he had to roll on the ground as another crate came flying at him. He narrowly dodged it and got himself ready for her strikes that she was sure to throw right after, he was on his toes and hands as she came at him quickly going for a kick at first which Ty used his left arm to block not wanting to hurt her leg with whatever made hitting his right arm more painful, her kick seemed to be coming at full force, he then pushed her away with his right arm and got on his feet again she came again with punches that Ty dodged and blocked until he got the chance to give her a slight kick to the gut pushing her back again so he could get back on the offensive though offense was the last thing he was going to be on.

It all happened quickly but Ty was able to see the blue field appear on her arm as he felt like a train hit him and sent him flying "Whoaaaa!" Ty yelled. The sudden weightlessness felt funny but it ended quickly as he crash landed into some of the crates Miranda had tossed earlier, the boom echoed across the room and all that could be seen of Ty was his legs laying on top of a crate, he had crates on all other sides of him and his torso was wedged in the little space his body made when he landed against the crate moving it very little. There was haste from Miranda Ty could hear only based on the sound of her heels clicking across the room signaling her approach, "Ty are you alright?" Miranda asked as she approached. "Owwwwww." Ty managed to get out. Miranda's head popped into view with her arm extended to help him so he grabbed it and she pulled him out of the hole, Ty got himself off the crate and sat down on the floor with the help of Miranda and put his back against the crate.

He wasn't injured badly mostly out of breath from the fight and the landing but otherwise he had very little bruising, Miranda knelt down next to him and said "Sorry about that I didn't mean to use that much force." Ty nodded and Miranda continued "You're lucky that fall didn't break anything you hit those crates hard." Ty nodded again and said "You don't have to tell me I hit hard I know I did, feel a little better now?" Miranda nodded slightly and said "Yeah it was a good release, do you want me to get Doctor Chakwas for you?" Ty shook his head no and said "I'll be fine just gotta catch my breath, how close is he?" "What?" Miranda asked. "Your father, is he getting close to your sister?"

Miranda looked shocked at Ty's question but it made sense because no one knew about her past though he had alluded to knowing some of it to her, "Did you hack Cerberus files again Ty?" Miranda asked in a serious tone. Ty shook his head and said "No, well not again that is. When I was on that Cerberus facility getting information I came across yours and Jacobs personal files and I hacked my way into finding out more about you since you had some locked stuff and I found out about your father and the genetic tailoring and your sister Oriana. Don't perceive me as a threat I don't go after innocents especially my friends family and I'll take most of that information I found out to my grave unless you tell more people."

Miranda nodded and Ty shook his head and said "Your father is fucked up, if it gives you any comfort I might hunt him after we're done with the Collectors and Reapers and if you need more help with your sister I'll do what I can." Miranda gave a slight smile and said "Don't worry about it I'll handle him when I get the chance, I don't like asking for help but you know a lot already if you wanted to come you could I guess." Ty nodded and said "Sounds like a blasty blast, I'm going to go take a quick shower before Shepard gets back so I'm not a ball of sweat before I go on a mission you gonna head up as well?" "Yeah I need a shower as well, you want help up?" Miranda asked.

Ty shook his head and pushed himself against the box and onto his feet, Miranda stood up completely and they both walked over to the elevator, well Ty wasn't walking as straight as he usually did but he was walking. The elevator took them up and they walked out as they reached their destination but before they parted ways Miranda stopped Ty and said "Thank you for helping me release some frustration." Ty gave a slight nod and said "You're welcome but that's what I'm here for aside from my charming personality and dashing good looks. Oh and thank you for biotically tossing my ass across the room into some crates." Miranda rolled her eyes with a smirk and said "You are such an arse." "You're an arse." Ty mimicked.

Miranda shook her head with a smirk and walked away so Ty walked to his room but before he jumped in the shower he walked over to EDIs terminal and said "EDI you there." EDI popped up and said "Yes Ty I am here." "Can you tell Jack me and the princess aren't in the cargo hold anymore so she can travel about freely if she feels spontaneous enough." Ty said. "Would you like me to use those words?" EDI asked. "Yea but make sure you tell her that's what I said." Ty said. "I will." EDI said. "Thanks EDI also if anyone comes looking for me let them know I'm in the shower and will come find them when I'm done." Ty said. "Would you like me to make sure Kasumi doesn't sneak in your room while you shower?" EDI asked.

Ty nodded with a smile, he wasn't sure that she actually would but it was a good precautionary plan so he said "Yea that would be nice, thanks EDI." "You are welcome Ty." EDI said then disappeared. Ty hit the shower and cleaned himself up then got out and got dressed and brushed his hair again, ten minutes had passed while he showered and got ready again so he decided to head back down to the cargo hold and get all his gear back on that he left down there then wait for Shepard to return. He took the elevator down and when he arrived at the cargo hold he was met by Shepard, Mordin, and Garrus with dirt and some blood smears on their faces and on Mordin's outfit, "Wow you guys look like you had fun." Ty said with a smirk. "You missed out on a real party down there Ty almost everyone came except you, the Bloodpack were there and they brought their pet Varren, some fire spitting creatures and Vorcha showed up and even got to fight through a hospital." Garrus said in a joking tone. "Hospitals aren't that fun to fight through though." Ty said. "What is fun to fight through?" Shepard asked. "Well some electronic stores are." Ty said. "Antique shops but only if they are classy." Garrus said.

Shepard looked at them both with a smile and said "You guys are one of a kind. Mordin, Garrus head on up I need Grunt down here so we can finish up on Tuchanka, Garrus make sure Miranda knows to let on the supplies I bought." Garrus nodded and he and Mordin got in the elevator as Ty walked out to his table where his gear sat. Shepard called on EDI to get Grunt armed and on his way down to the cargo hold so they could get going as Ty was arming himself again putting all his weapons in their specific holders and making sure they were secured tightly. As he finished he saw Grunts new gun he customized lying on the ground folded up, _I'll bring it just in case we need it and so I can test it out before I give it to him_, Ty thought.

Ty strapped it to the middle of his back between his regular tomahawks and his sniper then put his hood up since he hadn't yet, now he was completely ready but he was hit by a sudden memory from a few days before he and his crew hit the Thresher Nest.

* * *

"_We'll be there in a few days Ty as long as Valera doesn't crash us." Carson said with humor in his tone. "Cute Carson." Valera responded and then stuck out her tongue. Ty chuckled at the two and patted Carson on the shoulder and said "Play nice you two." "Fine." Valera replied childishly. "Ty if we make it out of this are you going to take Brad up on his party idea?" Carson asked. Ty nodded to himself and said "Yeah, we would've done it before just in case but my family matters mixed with all the other stuff kind of took all the time I had planned for a longer shore leave." "Hey sooner we're there the sooner we'll be back right?" Carson stated. "Damn right, I'm going to head up to my room and sort out the rest of the mess from that shit on the Citadel." Ty said. "C-Sec should thank you for solving their own damn problems, "Ah yes lets sit on our asses while a known group of murderers are planning to murder one of our officers families you know just because we are a bunch of incompetent idiots who can't stop someone from preaching on the Presidium let alone stop a real crime." Fucking idiots." Valera spat. "Is that how you feel?" Carson asked. "No I was keeping it censored for your tender sensibilities." Valera retorted._

_Ty smirked as he walked away hearing the two begin to bicker with one another as Ty passed through the CIC Ty saw Darian leaning against where the Galaxy map was staring at the Galaxy hologram in deep thought. As Ty neared him Darian looked over to him and asked "Are you sure about this? And don't give me the crap you give Gallick." "I'm sure I'm going down onto a planet where there is a Thresher Maw that apparently has useful resources around it." Ty responded. Darian shook his head and said "Fuck Tarak and this mission Ty we don't need to do this." "It'll be fine Darian." Ty reassured. "This is such bullshit." Darian spat. "Darian we've been fighting along side another for a while now, have I ever picked a mission that I thought was going to kill all of us?" Ty asked. _

_Darian chuckled and said "I don't think you've ever thought a mission was going to kill us let alone ever thought through a mission plan." Ty chuckled and shook his head, "No you never have, I'm just worried this might be a suicide run." Darian said. "It might be but working yourself up about it isn't going to make it better, if the worse happens you know what to do but I doubt the worse will happen." Ty said. Darian nodded then snapped into a salute and said "It's been an honor to serve with you Ty." "And it's been an honor to know you my friend, now go cause some trouble with the guys but try not to break the Setting Sun; Valera will rip your mandibles off for that." Ty joked. Darian chuckled as he let his hand fall, "She hasn't let me forget yet." Darian said. "Nor will I Talin, you break my baby and I'll break your face." Valera said over the comm. "Our baby." Carson chided. "Carson don't sa-" Valera was cut off by both Ty and Darian, she was too late, "Darian did you know they had a baby?" Ty asked. "No I had no idea I mean I always knew they had a thing for each other but never had I suspected…Spirits what did you name her Carson I hope she has more of you then her mother." Darian responded. "Crap, Darian run she's coming for you!" Carson said._

_Much to Ty's surprise Darian actually did run back to the elevator and began pushing the button frantically as Ty began to laugh hard and stroll to the elevator calmly since he needed to use it, "DARIAN TALIN YOUR ASS IS MINE!" Valera yelled as she came running up from the cockpit. Ty got in next to Darian who was frantically still pressing the button, "Why the hell isn't this working?" Darian asked. "Oh I left the safety lock on." Ty said with a smirk. "You what?" Darian asked as he looked back. A blue glow surrounded Darian, "Good luck buddy." Ty said with a smirk as hit the unlock button. "Wha-" Darian was pulled out of the elevator right before the doors closed, Ty fell to the floor…laughing his ass off._

* * *

The memory faded as suddenly as it came and Ty shook his head slightly in an attempt to get his thoughts straight. Ty looked around the cargo hold to see that Shepard had finished doing a check on her gear, mere seconds had passed but the memory always made it feel longer, Ty got his wits about him and walked over to where she was standing, she looked up at him and gave a slight smile then finished checking her shotgun over, "You always check your guns then recheck them before you do a mission?" Ty asked pointing out she had looked at each weapon twice. Shepard nodded and said "Yeah its like second nature, Alliance drills it into your head to always check your weapons twice to make sure the safety is on or off and that your heat sink was still good, at least back before thermal clips the heat sink was a big deal now though you check to make sure you have ammo in your clip." Ty chuckled a little which she smiled and asked "What's so funny?"

Ty shook his head and said "Nothing just you and your Alliance habits." Shepard put her shotgun back and asked "Did you get Miranda cooled off?" Ty nodded and said "Yea she'll be fine until we get to Illium unless she gets bad news about her sister." Shepard gave him a questioning look and asked "She told you about that?" "No I knew of her sister from reading her file and I put the pieces together, not that hard to figure out once you put her sudden mood swing with a sibling she's protective over."

Shepard gave a slight nod and Ty heard the slight sound of the elevator coming down, "Have you given it any thought?" Shepard asked suddenly. "Geez didn't figure you for the impatient type." Ty joked. "I'm usually not but its something important to me and patience with something like this is hard. Have you thought about it?" Shepard asked. Before Ty could answer the elevator doors opened and Grunt came stomping out, "I'll answer you later when we don't have crew members around." Ty said. Shepard sighed and said "Always when it's something serious to me someone has to interrupt."

Ty smirked and looked back over to Grunt who he could tell was very tense, "Grunt you ready to go find out why you're so tense and probably kill some things while we do it." Grunt seemed to perk up at kill some things but he nodded and Shepard motioned them to the shuttle which they all boarded. The shuttle left the Normandy and headed down into Tuchanka's atmosphere and as it did Ty couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen.

**A/N: Probably should do the whole disclaiming thing since its been awhile, I don't own the creation of the Mass Effect universe or the characters since that belongs to Bioware. I stake claim in the personailites of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual universe. Got that out of the way now I got no new news other than that I'm back and will be on my usual schedule if you can call my schedule usual but expect two chapters out a week like I've been doing. Thank you to all new and original readers and for the eight thousand views and the two thousand seven hundred something views last month, that number keeps increasing each month much to my surprise so thank you all who contribute to it. Any questions or comments just ask or comment away, Until next time when we'll all be under the Tuchanka sun, I can smell the Nuclear pile of rubble already.**


	38. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Rite to Battle

It had been two years since Ty had stepped foot on Tuchanka, two years since he forced himself to finally go tell the Urdnot clan leader that Kar was assassinated even if they didn't care, two years since he stood before Wrex and two other Krogans and explained everything leading up to Kars death and all the things Kar had done for the Krogan people while he traveled with him. Two years since he dared talk back to one of the other clan leaders for insulting both Kars memory and Ty and two years since Ty head-butted that clan leader for continuing the insults, needless to say the place hadn't changed much and the hospitality he expected would be worse than usual for him.

Tuchanka still was the bombed out home world it had been the last time he was there though he didn't expect it to change in two years but he allowed himself to think that maybe they'd get a clean up crew and start cleaning some of it up, not that the nuclear winter look wasn't good he just thought maybe a Krogan would be an interior decorator and start cleaning it up. _A Krogan interior decorator who the hell am I kidding that'll never happen, still a funny thought though,_ Ty thought.

The shuttle landed and the doors opened letting Shepard and Grunt out first and a slightly reluctant Ty after them, as soon as his feet hit the ground he sensed the sudden eyes on them, a lot towards Grunt and some towards Shepard and a lot towards him. Krogans had good memory since they lived so long and the last time he was here the only good impression he made was on Wrex, everyone else either hated him or disliked his alien presence on their home world. He doubted Wrex remembered the little head-butting incident but he hoped the other clan leader was dead or somewhere else because he was sure he remembered the incident.

They got to the first guard who was as swell as the last guy they had there when Ty showed up, he ordered them all to the clan leader then let them through after calling Grunt a rutting pet which made Ty and Grunt growl slightly in response for their own separate reasons. As they walked down the stairs Ty said "You know this place hasn't changed much except for the new guard back there, wonder how many they go through each year." "A lot I'd wager, when were you here?" Shepard asked. "Two years ago soon after you were spaced, I hadn't told the Urdnot clan leader about Kar yet and I finally summoned enough balls to come here and tell them whether they cared or not. Wrex was the leader and he seemed to tolerate me but some other clan leader and I didn't see eye to eye so I ended up head-butting him, Wrex thought it was funny but that other Krogan wanted to rip my spine out." "A lot of people seem to want to do that to you." Shepard said with a slight smile. "You got a quad Ty doing that on the Krogan home world." Grunt said. Ty nodded in an I know manor towards Shepard then in a thanking manor towards Grunt and said "Thanks."

As they got to the main opening Ty saw a Pyjak move quickly out of sight as it saw them walking towards it,_ little things are still running loose around here, wonder if they still use those defense cannons on them, ah nothing like seeing a Pyjak get incinerated_, Ty thought. In the distance Ty saw Wrex sitting on his throne in talks with none other than the ambassador Ty had head-butted, "Shit." Ty said under his breath. "Ty?" Shepard asked clearly hearing him. "That guy is the one I head-butted…we're going up there aren't we?" Ty asked reluctantly. Shepard nodded and Ty rubbed his forehead slightly, "This is gonna suck." Ty said. Not only was the guy more than likely still pissed at Ty he was also a traditionalist or something of the sort and bringing a tank bred Krogan wasn't going to improve on his mood. The only thing Ty had going for him at the moment was Shepard and her history with Wrex, hopefully it would be enough.

Grunts voice brought Ty's attention back into the present, "This rock is barely worth me standing on it." Grunt said. I guess he thought the Krogan home world was going to be more pretty, _he'll get used to it everyone does_, Ty thought. Shepard walked up to the stairs to the throne first but was stopped by a guard "The clan leader is in talks you must wait to be called on." Wrex glanced over and saw Shepard and Grunt standing there but Ty caught his glance and Wrex smiled a little and said "Well well your quad must be bigger than I thought Ty showing up here again." "Good enough?" Shepard asked as she pushed past the guard. Wrex got out of his throne and walked over to the group; Wrex shook Shepard's hand and said "Shepard." Shepard nodded and said "Wrex."

Ty was behind Shepard as Wrex looked back at him and said "Garrus wasn't kidding when he said you recruited a human with a big enough quad to put most Krogan to shame. How'd you meet the kid Shepard?" "Oh you know just a normal chat with me facing down the barrel of his gun." Shepard said with a smirk. Wrex smile as he looked at Ty and said "I'm impressed." "That he's alive or that he didn't kill me?" Shepard asked. "Honestly both, most the Galaxy wants him dead including your Alliance and he and his family aren't known for liking the Alliance." Wrex answered. _Yeah and now we're considering the impossible,_ Ty thought.

Ty gave a slight smirk and said "Hey Wrex how's it going." "Well enough." Wrex said. Ty looked around him and saw the other clan leader glaring at him so he said loud enough for him to hear "You still dealing with his bullshit I thought you'd have killed him already." Wrex smiled and motioned them to follow him back towards his throne, Wrex sat back down and said "Uvenk hasn't changed much and you seem to have not changed too much either except your looks, new tattoos." Ty chuckled and said, "You know how it is, you put enough war paint on to scare the opponent or make them doubt that you're a challenge then you either scare them into submission or surprise and kill them. Mine is just permanent."

Wrex gave a grunt of approval and said "True enough, I recall you saying something about making others believe you're the devil." To Ty's surprise he heard Shepard chuckle as she looked to him, "So you're the devil now?" Shepard asked. "Does she know?" Wrex asked. Shepard raised an eyebrow in question at first but than realized what Wrex meant as Ty nodded to Wrex and said, "Yea she does and yes Shepard I can play the devil pretty damn well. You'd be surprised how many have cowered in fear when I was…out of control. Fear isn't my favorite tool but I can't deny that it isn't fucking gratifying to see someone who has thrived off of the power of fear cowering before you begging for mercy in front of those they instilled fear into."

The look Shepard gave him looked like they were going to talk about that story another time but the four of them were interrupted by the sound of a Krogan clearing their throat, all four of them looked over to see Uvenk staring at them but mostly at Ty, "Why are you here human?" Uvenk snarled. "Two reasons." Ty answered. "Which are?" Uvenk snarled again. "One none of your business and two none of your fucking business unless your name is Urdnot Wrex, get it, got it, good." Ty said.

Uvenk growled under his breath as Wrex and Grunt laughed, "Hahaha, you haven't changed one bit Ty, so what brings you here to Tuchanka?" Wrex asked. "Two reasons one to inform you that every last person responsible for Urdnot Kars death have been killed." Ty said. "Except you." Uvenk said. "Fuck off." Ty responded without missing a beat. Wrex nodded in approval as he said, "Good to hear even though I didn't know him, so what's your second reason?" "That's Shepard, she recruited me for her mission so she brought me down here but I'll let her do the explaining for that. You mind if I go shoot some Pyjaks while you deal with figuring out Grunts adolescence?" Ty asked both towards Shepard and Wrex. Shepard raised an eyebrow in sudden question but nodded and said "Go ahead." "Hunt well Ty." Wrex said. Ty bowed his head a little and said "Thanks Wrex, Shepard come get me when your done talking with them."

Ty walked away to go get some Pyjaks and to get away from Uvenk before he head-butted him again for being an ass, Ty walked past the Varren fighting pits and down to the Pyjak shooting ground, "Human I take it you're here for the Pyjaks." The forward scout stated. "Yup let's see if I can put a dent into their population." Ty said walking up to a console. "It would sure make things easier, you might earn some respect from the others but I doubt it." The forward scout said.

Ten Minutes Later

The smell of burning Pyjaks filled the air as Ty blasted another one when he felt a tap on his shoulder so he glanced back and saw Shepard and Grunt standing there, "Time to go we have to do something called the Rite of Passage." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "Alright let's go." "I think you killed more than fifty human if you come back go talk to Ratch up there for a discount." The forward scout said. "I will." Ty said. As they walked towards a tomkah Grunt chuckled a little and said "I think Ty has rubbed off on you Shepard." Shepard looked at him with a questioning look and asked "What makes you say that?" Grunt chuckled again and said "Well the scents that come off you sometimes when he's around smell like you want to mate with him. Other than that though, he head-butted Uvenk and me and you head-butted Uvenk, I think you both have a little Krogan in you." Ty looked at Shepard with a smile but she was blushing a deep red at what Grunt said apparently very embarrassed about it being brought up so openly, "Least we addressed the elephant in the room." Ty joked. Shepard's blush got even redder then she glared at him and said "Don't even start."

Ty put his hands up in an I surrender motion and said "Alright just sayin, so what got Uvenk's quad in a twist." "He doesn't like me to much, doesn't think I'm Krogan." Grunt said. "You're Krogan alright I had the head injury to prove it." Ty said. Grunt chuckled and said "We should do that again, that was fun." Ty gave a light laugh and said "We survive the final push and we'll have another head-butting contest for fun." Grunt slammed his hands and said "It'll be glorious even better than the first time." "I'd do it before but I don't think I need to get injured anymore before the final push otherwise we'd do it after this mission." Ty said. Grunt nodded and said "I understand." _Why I want to do that again is beyond me but hell I can't say I didn't enjoy myself, even if it hurt like hell,_ Ty thought.

They reached the tomkah and hopped in with a few other Krogans, the rite of passage was something that Krogans took seriously Ty remembered Kar explaining it to him once after the Thresher maw incident where Kar blasted its face apart as it tried to eat him. Kar was psyched after that and it took him a while to cool off but Ty had wondered back then why the thresher maw incident brought up that memory he didn't believe in coincidence but he still figured just this once it was a coincidence of some sort.

The drive took a little while but when they arrived they all got out and walked up while one of the Krogans explained to Shepard and Grunt what was to happen, Ty already knew that it was fight a bunch of enemies or die, it made sense Krogans didn't do complicated reasons. They got to the top and the Krogan said "Activate the keystone to begin, good luck." The Krogan walked away and back down with the door closing behind him, Ty looked at the two and said "Well I guess we should get our guns ready and hit the keystone."

Shepard pulled out her heavy pistol, Grunt pulled out his Avenger and Ty pulled out his heavy pistols as Shepard walked over to a green light to activate the keystone, she hit the button and there was a Krogan voice recording over the intercom as the keystone was lifted up into the air, Ty watched it as it got to the top then suddenly it dropped and the dirt on the ground flew up into the air and the tremor went through everyone's body.

There were several growls which told Ty that there was Varren approaching their position, "Take up strategic points don't let them get close and watch each others backs." Shepard ordered. "I'm ready." Grunt said. Ty took the pillar and stairwell on the right side of the field with the key stone behind him, Varren started swarming the area from every direction. It was a huge pack so Ty took the initiative to start the killing as he got out of cover and started unloading both thermal clips into two Varren discharging half of each clips into both killing them, he aimed at two more and shot the rest of his clips into them. He got back into cover and said loud enough for Shepard to hear "I was wondering do you think I should just use one pistol at a time just in case there is a shit load of enemies and there are only so many thermal clips lying around." "That's probably a good idea." Shepard answered.

Ty holstered his left pistol and started shooting more Varren with his right killing two with head shots and another with a few shots to the body, Shepard sent a pull field at a group of six Varren temporarily suspending them in air as she unloaded her clip into them killing them all, Grunt was enjoying the killing as he unloaded his Avenger in at least ten Varren and charging three others and then unloading bullets into them. The first wave had been taken out but soon more Varren joined the fight and were met by bullets, biotics and sheer Krogan power, it was an overwhelming force between the three with Ty's marksmanship, Shepard's pulls, shockwaves and her N7 training mixed with her Spectre hardened training and then just the sheer will of Grunt and his shooting capabilities.

They were an unstoppable force to be reckoned with as wave after wave of Varren kept coming, some got close and were either met by Ty's tomahawks or Grunt stamping on their necks after dodging their bite then unloading some bullets into them. Blood and dirt had been smeared onto Ty's face, arms and clothing same with Grunt and his armor and face, Shepard had managed to stay fresh blood free but had more dirt on her from the wind blowing it around and from a few combat rolls dodging the Varren. Shepard shot another Varren in the face killing it as Ty rolled out of the way of a Varren's bite and slammed his tomahawk into the back of its neck twice just to be sure. Grunt on the other hand was wrestling with a Varren with his bare hands holding both its upper and bottom jaw trying to pull it apart, Ty noticed the lack of more Varren coming so he threw his tomahawk at what he assumed to be the last Varren hitting in the hind leg giving Grunt the opportunity to pull its jaws far enough away from each other to break it and kill it with a loud crunch.

Ty cringed at the sound because of how loud it was, Grunt had the look of victory on his face along with a smile as he pulled Ty's tomahawk out of it and handed it back to him as he walked over to him, "This has gotten my blood pumping all this fighting, surviving and killing is great, I'm ready for what's next lets hit that keystone and continue this." Grunt said. It was adrenaline pumping but not something Ty was going to start doing on his weekends, going against hordes of Varren and whatever else was next just wasn't as fun, in his opinion, as relaxing with friends and family and joking around.

Shepard reloaded her pistol and Ty looked at her and said "Did I ever mention you have an interesting way of making friends." "What does that say about you?" Shepard joked. "That you also have an interesting choice of who you like to associate yourself with." Ty joked back. "At least this is better than fighting through a hospital." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "True, now come on lets continue this while my adrenalines pumping." Shepard walked over to the keystone and activated it again activating a recording again and lifting the keystone once more then dropping it. As the ground and everyone had tremors through them Ty saw something flying in the distance that looked like a flying maggot with long legs, wings and a long neck. He was grossed out beyond all reasoning by it, "That shit is FUCKED up." Ty emphasized.

The creature started making noises as it landed and moving its head around, Ty couldn't take it anymore he took aim and fired three shots at it hitting it in the head, the bug lifted off and flew away but what Ty soon noticed was that it left behind new creatures, _more bug looking things what the fuck man, _Ty thought. "Those things spit fire and explode when you kill them do not engage at close quarters." Shepard ordered. "Those things are disgusting and were just hatched by that ugly looking fucking thing, the Collectors aren't even that ugly looking and they reached a new level of ugly but that thing just elevated it even further." Ty said as he shot a few of the new creatures blowing them up.

Grunt unloaded a few burst shots into five of the new creatures then launched a concussive shot into another sending it flying into another, "Yeah right on your ass" Grunt said. "Why don't you like bugs?" Shepard asked with a bit of a laugh. "Childhood trauma." Ty joked. "Really?" Shepard asked as she created a shockwave that bulldozed four of the creatures. Ty shot six more since they were getting close then he said "No, I don't know they just are gross, I hate bugs." "If that thing comes back lets kill it Ty it'll make a great trophy." Grunt said. "I hope it doesn't come back but if it does I'm going to find some way to blow it up and wipe its ugliness off the face of the universe." Ty said.

Grunt let out a laugh and said "Now that sounds like fun, let's go hunt that thing when we're done and blow it up with the Normandy's main gun." "Sounds good to me." Ty said seriously. "I don't think so you two once we finish up here we're leaving." Shepard interjected. "Well that's no fun." Ty said. "Come on Shepard let us hunt that thing; it won't take long once when those guns line up with it." Grunt said as he shot a few more creatures. "How about we focus on the mission at hand and we forget about the giant bug." Shepard responded sarcastically as she pulled out her shotgun.

The sound of flapping wings broke everyone out of their conversation and Ty said "That's why we can't forget about it, lets kill the fucker." Ty pulled out his sniper rifle and aimed at the giant bugs head then shot it twice with no fatal damage, the head seemed to be a hard part of it since it didn't seem to be incredibly fazed by the two shots. As he looked away from his scope to see the damage he saw more of the creatures coming out from under the giant bug but what really surprised him was the loud thundering boom that came from behind him.

Ty snapped around and saw what had caused the noise, it had enough force to dislocate a shoulder and or break an arm, it was longer than his forearm and almost half a foot wide with Grunt on the other end of it. It was what Ty liked to call the Threshillator extermawlator but was more commonly called a Claymore shotgun; the round hit the bug and took a chunk out of it. The bug let out an eardrum piercing scream as it started to lift off; Grunt ejected the thermal clip then fired another booming shot hitting it in the head taking a huge chunk out of it again. The bug let out screeches of pain as it tried to flap its wings and stay in air but continued to lose altitude until finally it slammed into the ground and let out one last shriek before it died.

Grunt had a giant grin on his face as he put his shotgun away and pulled out his Avenger, Ty looked back at him and nodded in approval with a smile and said "Yea that's what I'm talking about I owe you some Ryncol when we're done for killing that thing, there's a few bottles down in the Cargo Hold I believe." Grunt let out a laugh and said "Ha I have a better idea you and me have a drinking battle." As funny as that would end up being Ty didn't drink alcohol and knew he was going to have to decline and find a way to make it up to Grunt, "Sorry Grunt as fun as that would be I don't drink liquor." Ty had a sudden thought and couldn't stop the evil smirk from coming to his face as he continued "But Shepard does, I hear she can out drink Doctor Chakwas and that's a huge feat." Ty said as he put his sniper away and pulled out his pistol since the creatures were getting closer.

At first Grunt seemed upset about Ty not drinking with him but when he heard that Shepard drank his interest was sparked you could tell by the look on his face as he mowed down more creatures, "Shepard I challenge you to a drink off!" Grunt said in a cheery manor. Shepard blasted a few of the creatures with her shotgun then asked "You want to do what?" "Ty says you can out drink Doctor Chakwas, I want to see if you can out drink a Krogan." Grunt said. Shepard blasted a few more then looked to Ty who was taking down three of the creatures as he threw one of his special tomahawks at one and shot the other two, Ty felt a hole being bored into his head so he looked behind him at the pillar on the left side of the field that Shepard was using as a quick cover to reload her shotgun and he saw her giving him a slight really look mixed with a tired look. "What I don't drink I figure you can handle it, you've taken on worse odds right." Ty said with a laugh.

Shepard rolled her eyes with a slight smile then said "Just focus on the mission you two we'll talk about that type of stuff later." "That's a yes." Ty said to Grunt. Grunt nodded and they all got focused back on the killing at hand, the battle seemed to be taking a toll on Shepard's energy since she hadn't rested at all after going down with Mordin, her biotics were becoming less frequent and you could tell in her movements she was running abnormally low on energy. Ty had never seen her so tired even after some really physically exerting missions she'd still have a ton of energy to spare but now she was breathing heavily and killing less giving Grunt the courtesy to kill more.

They finished the last wave of creatures killing the last one with a barrage of bullets from Grunt and Ty blowing it up like the rest of the creatures, Shepard got off the wall and the keystone lit up again "Well looks like we got more things to fight." Ty said. "Let them keep coming I will destroy them all." Grunt said. Shepard stayed silent as she pressed the keystone and backed away letting the recording play as the keystone lifted into the air, Ty walked up to Shepard and asked "You okay Shep you look like you've used your biotics to much." Shepard nodded and said "I'm fine just need to give my biotics a break and I'll be fine." Ty nodded cautiously as the keystone slammed down sending the shockwave through them all again, the ground started to tremor more afterwards like an earthquake of some sort, "Do you feel that, it's something big." Grunt said with a smile.

Nothing in the area felt right as the tremors stopped, an ominous force surrounded the area giving Ty chills as a few blue tentacles popped out of the ground, "I don't like this." Ty said looking at all the tentacles swaying about. Shepard nodded in agreement as she aimed her pistol at one of the tentacles, memories began flashing through Ty's mind to the point of causing a nausea feeling because of how much his mind felt like it was swirling around in repeated circles until two words in the memory that had been shouted at him brought his mind to a sudden halt as he saw the gigantic creature facing down himself and his crew in a still frame, "Wait don-" Ty was to late as Shepard fired off a round hitting the tentacle directly. The ground began to rumble under their feet as Ty felt dread cover his whole body.


End file.
